I'd Give Up Forever to Touch You
by Anna Lane
Summary: An alternate take on Elena's new life as a vampire. Stefan's gone and Damon is desperate to save her from herself. If only all Elena had to worry about was herself... Set 10 years after S2. AUS3. Language, violence, adult situations. POV/Perspective shifts. Main couple Delena, but multiple miniships: Forewood, Beremy, MereRic, Mabekah. Complete at last.
1. Elena

I did the whole "Twilight" thing. Married the first guy I fell in love with, or rather, vampire. He was good and sweet, and he never ate humans. I changed to be with him forever. I thought the fairy tale ending thing would work. It didn't. I turned out old and unhappy anyway-an old and bitter woman in the body of a twenty-year-old. But I tried to be happy for Stefan; I was still desperately in love with him.

But it's useless to try now that he's gone. I have nothing left to live forever for. I'm alone in a world that has forgotten me. I can never have children-fuck Bella-in real life it just doesn't happen. Vampires don't have children. It's the price of eternal youth. One of them, anyway.

You'd think I, of all people, would have known not to turn. My parents are dead. My biological parents are dead, one way or the other. My innocent aunt was murdered just because she cared about me. If I hadn't realized by then how much the world sucked, pun not intended, then shame on me. I deserve whatever endless torture the universe sees fit to bestow upon me.

I still write in my diary every day. It seems almost pointless, and these days every entry is starting to look the same. I write about how much I hunger for human blood, how I refrain from feeding on humans every day just to honor Stefan. How alone I am-not lonely, just how alone I am. It feels like there's a difference.

And every day I ask, 'Is this the day I end my existence?'

And every day, just when I'm convinced this will be the day, the feeling that something's coming overwhelms me, and I must stop. It is too powerful. I don't know what is coming, but I hope I will not have to wait long. This endless life is shredding everything about me. My memories, my dreams, my hope…


	2. That Feeling

I was sitting in the parlor when I heard the knocking. If I were still human, it might have seemed ominous, the frantic, harsh banging. I might have been scared, once upon a time.

As it was, I only sat there, fearless and bored. But the pounding continued, and though vampires don't get headaches, they can still get annoyed. "Come in." I called out. "It's unlocked."

Damon rushed in, and he was so unexpected that it actually surprised me, but I recovered quickly. "Damon."

"Elena." His hair was a mess and he had a wild look in his eyes. He almost seemed out of breath, and he was clearly agitated. "We have to move quickly. If I found you, Klaus can't be far behind."

"Damon."

I tried to interrupt him, but he didn't listen. He moved to the window near the couch and moved the curtain to peek out onto the street. "I heard from one of my contacts that Klaus was close to discovering where the vampire who betrayed him and the Petrova doppelganger were hiding out. It took me a while to find you two. You hid well, but we need to leave. Now. Klaus can't be far behind."

"Damon." I stood, and finally caught his attention.

He stared at me like he'd never seen me before. "Elena." His face was a strange mix of emotions, and I couldn't read one of them. "You're a vampire." Well, I suppose I _could_ read one of them, shock.

"What makes you think this isn't Katherine?" I purposefully filled my voice with dry, cruel amusement, the only way Katherine ever spoke. It surprised me to realize that although that voice had once haunted my nightmares, now it sounded almost natural coming from my mouth.

He was still staring at me, and whatever emotion previously there was gone, replaced by joy. "Fool me once." He said, but I didn't understand and narrowed my eyes. He came closer to me, grabbed my shoulders and bent just a little to look into my face. "I would know you anywhere, Elena." He leaned closer, and with a detached curiosity I wondered if he would kiss me. I wondered if I would care enough to stop him, but he pulled away before we both found out. "How did it happen?" I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. "It doesn't matter. You can tell me the-surely-scintillating story _as_ we are running for our lives." He let go of my shoulders and looked around. "Where is Stefan, anyway?"

"Not here." I said, and was shocked to discover the words broke as they came out of my mouth. I didn't know it would be hard to say them, I didn't know it would hurt. I thought that hurt had disappeared, along with everything else, long ago.

"Then where is? It's a nice, family home you've got here, but we can't stay. It isn't safe." There was honest concern in his voice, in the downward twist of his mouth, in the brows drawn low in a slight slant, shinning in his eyes.

I smiled. "It is, actually. Safer than you'd think." The words I'd meant to be sarcastic and uncaring came out soft and sad.

"What are you talking about? It isn't safe." His arms rose an imperceptible amount, and by the way he drew them back, I knew it was involuntary. He had, just for a moment, been tempted to throw me over his shoulder and carry me out of here. He always did want to be the hero, the one who saves me, always.

"Stefan's dead." I said, with the emptiest voice I could muster, not sure whether I did it for myself, or for Damon.

He fell to his knees, "How?" He looked up at me, but I didn't meet his eyes.

"We were here, in this house." I paused, smiling bitterly. "We weren't expecting anything. It had been just like any other day." I had to pause again. "Klaus came. He killed Stefan. Said it was because he didn't honor their deal. He was mad Stefan broke their deal and didn't go with him. Ripped his heart out." Tears welled up when I remembered how Stefan's face had begun to blacken and whither, until it was unrecognizable.

I finally looked down at Damon. While before I couldn't decipher the emotions that were running across his face, this time I couldn't see anything in his face. He was completely unreadable. I didn't know if he was shell-shocked or empty or disbelieving. It unnerved me. "Damon?"

"Why are, why are you-?" His face cracked, shattered like plain porcelain on a marble floor, and I saw how he felt written on his face. I wish I hadn't. He was in pain, and tears were welled up in his eyes. "Did you get away?" He whispered.

"No." I wished I could break apart with him, show him I had felt that, too, but I couldn't.

"Then why-?" He asked, still looking up at me. He reminded me of a lost child looking for comfort.

Too bad I had none. "I think it was because of the way I looked at him." I examined, of all things, my fingernails. It seemed to make telling him easier. "I was so horrified, you see, when I saw his face shrivel and break apart, like rotten cotton candy." I sighed. "Klaus saw, and instead of killing me, too, like he should have—like he planned, I'm sure—he decided that my punishment would be to live without Stefan, and he left." I sat.

00000

She sunk to the couch as if all the strength had left her, and she could no longer stand. She smiled a smile Damon was beginning to hate, one he'd never seen on her face before tonight. It was not a smile at all, more like a grimace of pain, only empty. She continued with the story he thought she'd already finished. "He even tried to compel me not to kill myself. He must have been excited, because he didn't even notice I was on Vervain."

Damon pulled himself from his knees to sit next to her on the couch. He drew her into his arms, and noticed that she didn't react in any way. It was then he started to notice something was seriously wrong with her. She was different, broken.

It made him doubt that Klaus's suggestion didn't affect her. With the way she was acting, Damon had little doubt she was capable of, and even desired, suicide.

Damon had been alone these past few years. More alone than he had ever been when his brother had left with the girl they both loved. Her friends were just that, hers, not his, and they hadn't remained near him when she left. That wasn't what bothered him most though, the being alone, what bothered him most was how much he _was_ bothered by being alone. Meeting Elena had changed him, and he wasn't sure to handle this now that she herself had changed. He knew one thing, though; he was going to save her. No matter what it took.

000000

He pulled out of his embrace—since I wasn't holing him back it couldn't be called ours—and looked at me. He took my hand. He rubbed circles on the back of my hand, but I didn't feel it. He looked down in surprise. My wedding ring. I think I had forgotten I still wore it. He took a deep breath and his eyes returned to my face. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. Problem was, I didn't even know how he was looking at me. Before I could ask him what his problem was, he spoke. "Elena, come back with me to Mystic Falls." I was shaking my head before he finished his sentence, but he continued anyway. "Please. Help me kill the thing that murdered my brother. Your…_husband_." He choked the word out.

I was about to refuse him, to tell him that nothing could possibly matter to me anymore. After all, I just wanted to live my life in the quiet, alone, until I built up the courage to kill myself. But that feeling I get every day stopped me. That feeling I got every day right before I'm about to rip the ring from my finger in a patch of sunlight. The feeling that stops me. The feeling that I'm waiting for something. Only this time, magnified to intensity, so strong I had to catch my breath, though I don't need air. Could Damon be the one I've been waiting for?


	3. Cars, Coolers, and Killers

_**A/N: Huge thank you to diehardromantic! It meant a lot to me that you took the time to review.**_

I don't know what I was expecting Damon's car to look like. Actually, I don't think I expected anything at all, because I didn't care enough to wonder in the first place. But I found the subject interesting when I saw it. "I didn't know you liked cars." I said, referring to the fire-red Ferrari.

He shrugged. "Don't I deserve a nice car?" He grinned at me naughtily, and seemed a little off-put when I didn't react.

We had only been on the road a short while when I realized this ride was going to be miserable. Misery wasn't new to me. I'd spent the last few years with absolutely no reprieve from misery, sitting alone in my house. However, the irritation was new, and kicked up the misery to a whole new level.

Damon was an excellent driver. He never drove the speed limit, but he moved in ways that made it abundantly clear he had complete control of the car. For all his excellent driving skills, he didn't keep his eyes on the road. He kept flicking glances at me, but he never said anything. It irritated me so much I started to sigh. Pointedly, and repeatedly, but he didn't seem to be getting it, which only irritated me more.

After a few hours, when we were on a deserted stretch of highway going 80 or so, Damon took his hands off the wheel and completely turned around in the driver seat to reach behind him. I took my eyes off the road, uncaring, and watched him with interest. There was a large cooler in the back seat. He took out a handful of blood bags and turned back around in his seat. We'd only veered slightly out of the road lines. He straightened it, and put his attention back on the blood bags.

He opened the armrest that was settled between his seat and mine, and I noted with surprise that it was really another cooler of some sort. White puffs of cool air appeared when he had opened it. He put all but one of the blood bags in it and closed it again.

"You really vamped up your ride, huh." I think my lame joke must have surprised him as much as it had me.

Nonetheless, he chuckled and said, "There wasn't much else for me to do. Things got pretty boring when you two left." He picked up the remaining blood bag and ripped into it ceremoniously with his fangs.

My fangs lengthened at the sight and my eyes went a little dreamy. At the smell, I almost leaned into him and licked it from where he'd smeared it across his chin. I hadn't eaten since yesterday.

He saw me watching and withdrew his mouth. "Do you want some?"

I forced myself to look away. "I don't drink human blood."

"You can drink human blood without being a killer, Elena." I continued to ignore him and he shrugged and went back to his blood.

I was sitting staring out the window doing my best not to watch him drink when a sudden noise made every part of me tense up. Instead of the faint sound of his throat swallowing, now a distinct, loud sucking noise could be heard. My eyes were drawn to him despite myself.

He was sucking the opening of the bag hard, trying to get the last drops, like one would do with a juice box, I recalled from my younger memories. As I watched, he dropped the bag when it held no more and moved on to his fingers. Some blood must have spilled onto them. He started with his pinky. His lips closed around his finger and she could hear his tongue scrape across his skin as he slowly moved his finger from his mouth. It came out with a quick popping noise. I gulped. He moved on to his ring finger. And then his middle finger, his eyes closed dreamily, no care for the road. His face was one of pure enjoyment, and then he started making little moaning sounds. I took a deep, involuntary breath, even though I didn't need the air. As I watched, something inside me heated, and I told myself it was just the blood, but it was something I know I hadn't felt in a while, and hunger was a feeling I'd been struggling with almost every day. He was moving on to his last finger, his thumb, and I was nearly writhing against the seat in restraint. My eyes were watching his lips as they puckered and sucked, not the blood.

It took more power than it should have for me to look away. I spotted a patch of trees. "We need to stop." I growled. "I'm hungry."

His head lifted from his fingers and I could clearly see he hadn't been paying me any attention. He'd been completely immersed in his fingers. He looked into my eyes and understanding replaced the surprise. He jerked the wheel suddenly and we came to a screaming stop near a patch of trees on the side of the road.

I reached for the door handle, but he stopped me with a hand on my forearm. "Allow me." He said with a smirk and was out of the car before I could stop him.

I didn't have long to wait in the car. Before I knew it, he was back and holding something out for me in my open window. I reached for it before I recognized what the small bundle of squealing grey fur could be. Irritation and a little hurt filled me as I realized what it was. A small baby bunny.

I rolled my eyes so he wouldn't see the hurt in them. I took it, more savagely than I intended, and bit into the squirming mass, killing it instantly and draining it quickly. "Did you really think I wasn't over that?" I asked him when I finished. "I accepted long ago what needs to be done." I tossed the small bunny to the road, my heart giving an odd twinge as I did so. As a rule, I generally targeted old or sick animals, ones that were fated to die soon anyway. Targeting the ones that hadn't even had their chance in life yet seemed cruel, but I wouldn't let Damon get to me.

Not only was the baby bunny mean, but it was just plain stupid. Something so small would never fill me up. My stomach growled in agreement. He heard it and sneered. "Would you like me to go back and get some more? I did see a whole nest."

"No, thank you." I settled back in the car seat. The small amount of blood sat uneasily in my stomach.

Despite my bravado when dining, he seemed to recognize my discomfort. He took another blood bag from the compartment between the seats and bit into it delicately. Probably trying to make a point. He daintily finished, after muchly overdone and theatrical sucking and gulping. I knew he was doing it on purpose this time. He finished without a drop spilt, and said, "You know, you killed that bunny back there. You had to, but I didn't have to kill anything. Ironic that the ones so worried about doing good are the ones who are actually the killers, isn't it?"

I looked out the window and tried to ignore him, and ignore the hunger still gnawing at my stomach. I retreated to the place that's recently become my home. A place inside myself where I can block out the rest of the world, a place where I don't have to see, hear, or feel anything. I didn't have to think. It was always easier here.


	4. Bones

I gasped when I felt ice cold water hit my face in a large wave. It slid down my neck and back, soaked through the front of my shirt. The cold water also soaked through my bra, and I felt my nipples respond. Of all the human reactions that I have left, it still amused me that some things never changed.

It did not, however, amuse me today. I lifted my eyes—they felt frozen, or stiff, if it was possible to get stiff eyeballs—until I found the culprit, fully prepared to chew his head off, maybe literally, when they rested on Damon. I tried to let my anger go but even so, a growl escaped me.

"Hey, I liked it less than you." He snapped, blue eyes narrowing. "You got my seats wet."

"Me?" I scoffed. "I seem to recall you being the one with the bucket of ice water, and the one with the hand that must have slipped, because really, it isn't wise to do that sort of thing on purpose. Especially to me."

Instead of being intimidated, he laughed at me. I frowned. "Being a vampire must really have gone to your head, or maybe it's the lack of blood, because you seem to have forgotten that you are _not_ the strongest thing out there. You aren't even the strongest vampire within five feet, my fanged vegan friend, understand?" He asked dangerously.

I was irked to find I had no response. I climbed from the car and found my muscles stiff like they hadn't been used in a long while. Almost as my eyes had felt. Somewhat mollified, I asked him in a much less grumpy tone, "Why did you pour water on me if I was in your car?"

He glared at me. "Like I had a choice, Elena. You've been like a statue ever since the bunny incident, and I figured you had just really perfected the silent treatment. Until we got here, and you refused to budge." I looked around and noticed with surprise we were back at the mansion. Old and unwelcome memories clawed their way through my thoughts. "I tried shaking you, threatening you-" I took in, with a little trepidation, the stake in his hand. "-but nothing worked. Until this." He held up a metal pale she assumed had held the water.

"Oh." I moved past him and walked, like a zombie, towards the mansion.

Damon latched onto my arm and whirled me around. I looked at him with little interest while he stared at me like he was expecting something. "Well?" He finally asked, annoyed.

I shrugged. "What?" His eyes all but bulged from his head. He spread his arms, pointed to his wet upholstery, nodded at his metal bucket, and looked at me again. "Oh, right." I said slowly. "Sorry." The word seemed to itch as it came from me. I tried to walk back to the house.

He was in front of me in a second and had both hands on my shoulders before I could take another step. He looked deep into my eyes, and I just stared back. He looked confused, like he didn't know how to react. I guess he finally decided on angry. "I don't want a god damn apology, Elena! I want to know what the hell that was! You were empty, you didn't hear, feel, see! What the hell, that isn't normal." His fingers tightened on my shoulders, and even though I was a vampire, he was doing it hard enough to hurt.

The pain made me forget to speak for an instant. It was strange, but the pain felt good. I leaned in and inhaled without trying to make it too obvious. "It was something I learned to do a few years ago, when it still hurt to think of him. I just stopped-everything. And it wouldn't hurt because it wasn't anything." I leaned in a fraction of an inch closer. He still looked mad, and for some reason that seemed wrong to me. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." I promised, and was pretty sure I meant it.

"It's like how we can turn off the human part…only for you, it's everything." He pushed me away a little bit, and stalked back into the house. I felt the faintest of smiles ghost across my face as I watched him walk away. He was making life…interesting. And after so many years of boredom and nothingness…I was enjoying it.

One we were inside, I sat down on the couch, not really sure of our next step. He sat down next to me. "You should eat. You haven't eaten anything the whole trip, and it was days, Elena. It would be hard for a real vampire to do, let alone a vegetarian one like you." He stood up. "I'll go get you something."

"No thank you." I said. Politely enough, too, or so I thought. Nonetheless, he got angry at me again. I was only finding him more perplexing the more time we spent together.

"You have to eat." He growled.

"I will eat when I am hungry, Damon."

"I have business. Blood's downstairs in the cooler. Or out back in the woods, if you must. But you had better eat before I get back." He was walking away from her. "You don't want me angry." He said, smoothly.

000000

It turned out his business took a couple days, and just because I hadn't been able to for a while, I wanted to argue, to disobey. It felt nice.

So when he came back, I was on that very couch, reading a book I'd borrowed from his room. And I hadn't had a drop of blood. I'd felt tired, but hadn't slept because I didn't want to miss his return. They say to sleep when you're dead, but I know sometimes even that doesn't work out too well. The fire comforted me with its dim, gentle flickering.

I smiled at him when he walked in, and it took him so off guard he immediately smiled back. As he got closer to where I lay on the couch his face grew darker, until he was looming over me with a scowl. "You look terrible. You haven't eaten. Are you trying to starve yourself?"

I laughed, and then I laughed some more, because my laughter sounded like it floated on little clouds around my head.

"Are you okay?" He kneeled on the floor so that he could look into my face where I was on the couch.

I swung my legs over the side. "Why wouldn't I be?" I tried to stand, but my legs didn't hold my weight and I collapsed. He caught me before I could really fall. He set me back on the couch. I noticed that his anger was all gone now, and it was replaced with concern. I reached out to touch his face, but as my arm moved I noticed something. "Hey," I said dreamily. "Look, you can see my bones." I prodded at the things poking from my skin. I giggled. I took his hand and made him feel it too. "Doesn't it feel funny?" I laughed.

He pulled away, distaste written on all his features. My lower lip shook. "You don't like my bones?"

"You're eating and that's final. I don't care if I have to pour it down your throat." He was almost out of view when I heard him call out, "and I'm not getting you that forest shit!"

He came back with five blood bags. He held one up to my mouth, with a threatening expression. I turned away. "You remember what I said—"

"I don't care!" I screamed, hiding my face in the sofa. "You don't like my bones!" I wailed.

I felt a tentative hand on my back. I peeked and saw his uncertain expression. I narrowed my eye at him. "I _do _like your bones, Elena, from your fucking flanges to whatever your toe bones are called." I remained unconvinced and hid back in the couch. I felt hesitant rubbing on my shoulder. "It's just, bones are something that are meant to be appreciated from afar. Something you should love knowing they're there, but when you actually see them, it's like taking the magic out of them, you understand?"

I turned my head so that it lay on my cheek and facing him. "Like a magician's tricks. When you know, they aren't special anymore." I rationalized. "Oh, god." I realized, "my bones aren't special anymore! You hate them!" I was in the process of hiding my face again when he caught both shoulders and pried me off of my stomach onto my back.

"Your bones will always be special to me, Elena." I was shaking my head violently. "Yes, it is true. You know that, too. You're just delirious. You need to feed." He held up a blood bag to my mouth. I just looked at him. "Don't make me pry your mouth open, Elena."

My lips pouted and my eyes got big. "Will you bite it open for me? My teeth hurt."

He looked like he was about to refuse for a moment, but soon he was bringing it to his own mouth. "You must be pretty bad, if your fangs can't even come out." And then his own fangs grew and he ripped open the bag. I swallowed . Blood dripped from where he'd bitten it to where he held it with his fingers in front of my face.

I took hold of his wrists and held them still before me. I inhaled. "Drink." He commanded.

I licked a trickle of blood from the back of his hand. "But that isn't what I want." I whispered, licking up to his pinky finger. "I loved the way you sucked your fingers in the car." I told him, pulling his one hand closer to me while the other still held the bag. I took his whole finger into my mouth and sucked it clean. I did the same with the others.

The groans I heard escape him did strange things to my stomach, made it flip. "But you won't get a lot of blood that way." He protested, before I could start on the other hand.

"You're right," I agreed. And despite how weak I was, I still had the strength to launch myself from the couch to sink my teeth into his neck.

I caught him off guard, but the moment he realized what I was doing, he tried to push me off of him, but I had wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist and held tight. He was still kneeling on the floor in front of the sofa, so he didn't have much leg strength to work with. Not to mention, there's not much stronger than a vampire in blood lust. Especially not when the blood tasted this good.

I moaned as I sucked down a mouthful. I pulled away, but only to bite savagely into his neck again. I heard him groan despite the situation, and I felt his arms cease their struggle to push me away. Vampires often drink each other's blood during sex, and even though I was doing it to feed, it was still sexual. For both of us.

With the way I was biting him…it was probably akin to rough sex. Something I felt sure Damon was no stranger to. I took no time to ensure I gave him pleasure from each bite. I was too consumed with the need for sustenance, and the way his blood tasted. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter, spicier, hotter, or more refreshing.

I was grinding into him with every hard suck, and I could tell it was affecting him. His arms wrapped around me and tried to hold me closer instead of resist me. I almost didn't notice when the strength in his arms seemed to slack, but the sudden swaying did draw my attention. I fell with him to the floor when he could no longer kneel.

I was still drinking heavily and writhing on top of him when I heard his weak murmur and felt his arms fall from me completely. It took more strength of will than I'd like to admit to tear myself away from tearing into his neck. I pulled away enough only to look at his face. He was pale and looked dizzy.

"Shit." I said out loud, "I almost drained you." I was still either too buzzed or too ravenous to care.

He breathed deeply. "Yeah, not the way I always pictured you sucking me dry."

I smiled and leaned in to kiss his neck where I'd bitten him. "All in good time." I purred, as I examined his neck. The wound was clotting, and I gave a moue of disappointment. I licked it, and inhaled his scent, already impatient for the next bite.

He stiffened at my words. Not his cock, that had been hard, but his whole body. I might have asked him what was wrong, but I didn't care. Besides, I was busy running my hands down his chest and ripping his shirt open, the buttons popping off of his dress shirt easily. He grabbed my hands and stilled them, but his grip was weak. Hmm. I'd have to fix that. "Elena, I don't think we should be doing this. Stefan—"

I ripped off my wedding ring, throwing it far and not watching where it landed. "Is dead." I finished. "He has been for years, and I haven't had a man since him. I sure hope I'm doing this right." I said as I thrust into him. I grinned when I heard him gasp. I broke the hold he had on my wrists easily and reached for the bags of blood he originally intended for me. I bit into one, but didn't drink. Instead I held it to his face as I moved on top of him. "Drink." I commanded.

He did so, growing stronger with each gulp. His hands lifted from the floor and moved to stroke me almost mindlessly. He finished the first quickly, and I got another for him. His eyes moved from the bag where I was holding it for him, to my face. They stared at me with such intensity, I think it could have been called a glare. He thrust up, and I shuddered in ecstasy. When my eyes met his again, they were alight with masculine pride. I grinned back.

He finished the second bag just as easily, but instead of bothering to get him another, I just let the empty one fall. I slipped the tattered remains of his shirt from one shoulder. I licked his bare shoulder once before biting into him. It wasn't as savage as before, but my fangs still hadn't come out and there was a lot of tough muscle in his shoulder. It felt good slowly sinking my teeth into him. It felt even better when his blood slid down my throat.

He yelled aloud. I saw him reach for another blood bag. I happily went back to what I was doing. As long as he kept drinking, so could I. He finished another bag.

I was wiggling on top of him, trying to crawl inside his skin, where all that lovely blood was, when he surprised me by flipping us both over. I gasped as he rose up above me, dark humor in his eyes, and a smirk on his face. "As long as you're using me, I think I'll repay the favor." He ripped my shirt and jeans off much as I had ripped his shirt off. He easily undid the front clasp of my bra, not bothering to slide the straps from my arms. He buried his face into my chest, kissing and kneading the tender flesh of my breasts. He savagely bit into the top of one breast, fangs sliding in deep. He didn't bother to drink from me, just moved from the bite to bite into the other nipple. I shrieked at the erotic pain.

I heard his zipper, felt him move the fabric of my panties to the side, and felt a cool rush as the air assaulted my suddenly bare sex. He didn't try to prepare me-he just slammed into me and started working himself in and out. The stretch would have been unbearable if I hadn't already been so turned on. As it was, I couldn't help but rake my nails across his back and leave strips of thin scratches on him.

He gave me no time to collect myself, and his merciless pounding did nothing to help. I just lay there, giving little screams here and there at the pleasurable pain, while he held my hips down so he could ram into me and ensure I couldn't escape.

Eventually, my vampiric abilities began to catch up to me, because instead of feeling helpless and breathless, I started to participate. The first thing I did was reach down to rip my panties all the way off. The feeling of him pushing into me while they were still on was annoying. Then I started tipping my hips into his, and the feeling of us moving together was amazing. Once I started doing that, I easily found my climax. Just before I lost all rational thought, I brought my hand to Damon's head and brought him down close to me so I could reach his neck. I bit down just as I started to come, and rode the pleasurable waves in time to my harsh sucking. I felt him shout, and bite into me seconds later, the sensations from that rocking my pleasure to new heights.

We both lay panting together a few minutes later. He lifted his head to look at me and I saw that blood was smeared across his chin. I grinned at him before bringing my head closer to kiss him, then lowering my mouth to lap up the blood he messily smeared. "Mmm. Let's do that again." I said. He was nuzzling me with his nose. I tried to move my legs and abruptly stopped. "Maybe in a couple days." I modified.

"Do you need more blood?" He asked, offering his neck.

"Not yet. But you should drink more. I know I took a lot." He grunted in agreement. He rolled off of me, and I had to stop myself from whining out in protest. He had only gotten up to grab himself another bag of blood. He came back and stood over me, smirking at my unabashed nakedness as I sprawled out across the floor.

He was only half naked, with his jeans still loosely about his waist, but with his cock still hanging out. The sight made me smile.

He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I gasped as parts of me that were still too sore to move were jostled. He didn't apologize, he just said, "You'll be more comfortable in the bed." I relaxed against him and decided some light jostling was definitely better than walking all the long way to his room.

He lightly tossed me onto the bed, and I couldn't help a giggle as I bounced a bit. I burrowed under the covers. He slipped his pants the rest of the way off and climbed under the sheets next to me. He threw an arm over me and snuggled into me. I would never have guessed Damon was a cuddler. My lips curled up involuntarily, and I relaxed into his grip.

My eyes closed, and my whole body felt heavy. I was exhausted, and not just physically. I hadn't felt anything in so long, hadn't, in fact, had any human contact for at least a year, that all of this at once was overwhelming. I had been empty for so long, that when Damon came along and shook me up, filled me up in more ways than one, it was like he'd started a fire in me that hadn't been there. A tiny, little flame that fought off the darkness. All I wanted to do was stay close to him and keep feeding that part of me that I thought had died a long time ago.

000000

Damon

"So…" He started, then cringed. Pillow talk. How many times had a girl attempted this and end up talking to his backside as he left her bedroom? But he felt the matters needed to be discussed, and wanted to get it over with so he could finally bask in the glow that came with finally getting to hold the girl you've loved from afar for over a decade. She rolled over to face him, and his grip on her loosened.

She smiled at him with pure happiness, and he found the sight breathtaking. "Yes?"

"Uhm." He forgot everything as he stared into eyes that he'd waited for what felt like forever to stare into like this. It elated him just about as much as it scared him. She was looking at him like he was the only thing in the world that mattered. He had to look away to remember what he had intended on saying. "The business I went away on—you remember?" He felt the movement of her nod on the bed. "It was about looking up some people we'll need to help us defeat Klaus." Another nod. "Bonnie for sure, maybe Caroline and Tyler, couldn't help to have some more supes on our side." He finally looked up at her. And saw nothing. The eyes he had, not a moment ago, found so lovely and deep, a mesmerizing root beer portal to speechlessness, were now blank and empty. "So?" He finally asked, after a minute of staring at her.

"So, what?" She responded, looking honestly confused.

"Aren't you nervous, or excited, or something?"

"Should I be?" She asked, her face still casually blank.

He pulled her closer and she snuggled into his chest. He was glad she couldn't see his face. The arm wrapped around her slowly stroked her hair while he thought. Being alone for so long had changed her. There was something broken about Elena. His arms tightened around her infinitesimally and he vowed he would help her.


	5. Bonnie

Damon.

It had been a week now, and Elena didn't really seem to be any better. She sat around and did nothing all day. Well, not nothing. She read, and watched TV occasionally, but if you saw her face while she was doing it, you would think she was staring at a blank wall for all she was getting out of it.

In fact, the only times she ever even looked alive were the moments she spent with him. Those were the bright spots of his day, too, but it distressed him to watch her when she withdrew from the world. She would laugh and smile with him, but at any other time it was like she was made of stone.

She even refused to eat, the only reason she wasn't starving was because she bit him every chance she got. He didn't know why, but she seemed to insist on biting him without fangs, which amped up the pain, which in turn amped up the pleasure, but it was still weird. He currently held a healing set of full teeth marks on his neck at this very second. And while the biting was hot, and the sex even hotter, he found it annoying the mass amounts of blood he now needed in order to feed her as well as himself.

He had wanted to wait a little before they went to go get help from her friends, because he didn't want them to see her this way. But she hadn't seemed to improve at all, and he was getting worried that they would run out of time. What if Klaus found out what he was planning? Or what if he left the states before they could get him? He knew that Klaus was currently partying it up in New York right now, but how long would that last? Worst of all, he was starting to suspect that what was wrong with Elena was unfixable. It made him love her all the more, but it also made him worry more.

All this worrying was getting to him. He felt like Stefan. Stefan was always the leader, and leaders were always the ones who had to deal with all the worry. Following orders had been easier, he didn't know how his little brother had handled giving them for so long. He held a new respect for his baby brother now, being in his shoes and all, and wished he hadn't been quite such a dick, hadn't challenged almost every decision he'd made. Damon felt his chest ache as he remembered that his brother was gone. For however much he hated him, Stefan was still his brother and he missed him. Damon had usually dropped in to check on his brother once every decade or so. Elena had changed that, and now that Stefan was actually dead, it was hard to deal with the fact he wouldn't ever drop in to antagonize him again.

Damon made the decision to drop in on Bonnie tonight. Maybe annoying her might make up for the ache he felt for his brother. Damon dreaded telling Elena, and the empty, uninterested look he knew he would get from her.

000000

Elena.

He said today we'd find Bonnie, but I guess first he'd wanted to go to a club, because that's where he drove us. There was a long line of men waiting outside of the club, and it was adorned with a multitude of blinking neon signs. It hurt my eyes to look at them—sensitive vampire sight. He walked past the line of men to the bouncer, who he compelled to let us in. The men leered at me as I passed. Since becoming a vampire, members of the opposite sex often felt intrigued by me. I'd gotten over it long ago.

Or perhaps that wasn't why they had been leering, I thought mere seconds after entering the club. Damon appeared to have taken me to a strip club.

The pure, venomous rage that filled me hit me out of nowhere. I don't think I had ever been so angry. How dare he? The anger built and spread through me, simmering like boiling vomit, sour and disgusting. I saw red, and my body grew warmer-was even warmer than during sex. All I knew was that I wanted to simultaneously scream and cry, and rip his throat out-and not in a good way.

Somehow through it all I managed to follow him silently as he walked further into the club—after all, it wouldn't do to have so many witnesses around when I finally killed him. He hadn't looked back once at me to see my reaction as he walked deeper into the dark club and closer to the 'stage'. That was a good thing. It gave me time to reign in my expression. He wouldn't see it coming, but by God, he would _feel _it. Who did he think he was, to play with me like this, after all I've been through. Did he think it was okay to toy with my emotions because I was some emotionless shell anyway? I had news for him. I'd made such an effort for him, tried to live and be normal again. Because when I was with him, I did feel normal. Better than that, actually, I felt wonderful. But he'd taken that and thrown in back in my face.

And it all obviously meant nothing, I thought darkly as he beckoned and a gorgeous, exotic woman came down and grasped his outstretched hand. She was wearing a ribbon of a purple top that shimmered and a matching purple thong.

She guided him through the obnoxious crowd towards a back entrance and I followed them slowly, glowering, as my thoughts continued racing. Some part of me, in the back of my head, was begging me to think rationally, after all, there _had _to have been some sort of explanation. He couldn't do this to me, could he? Did Damon want some sort of ménage a trois? Because I'm not that kind of girl. Did he want me to watch while he did things to this new girl, maybe bit her? Was this his way of saying he didn't like the way I bite him? Because if so, I could change—I tried to crumple the desperate, weak thought before I could finish it. Was this his way of saying get lost? Did he want to tell me in the worst way, as he held in his arms another woman?

Then my thoughts moved on towards different methods to kill them. It had to be painful, but quick and discreet. It would be hard to do here, but it would be possible, it _was_ a dark ally. Maybe I could just manage to knock them both out, carry them to the car, and finish later at my own discretion? Nah, better to just get it over with. The quicker I did it, the sooner I could go back to feeling nothing. I'd honestly rather feel nothing than this hurt, angry pain. How stupid I'd been to trust him! I can't believe I'd ever thought he was good, he was clearly evil, and maybe that wouldn't have bothered me so much, but to do _this_ to me?

They stopped suddenly and both turned to face me. They must have been talking and I'd been so caught up in my mind that I hadn't realized. They were looking like they expected me to do something. They were right to expect something. My hands flashed out, quicker than the human eye, to wrap around his throat.

He caught my arms easily before I'd even made contact, and held my arms immobile at my sides. "Elena!" I ignored him, and tried to struggle, but for all my rage, he was still stronger, even though our diets were virtually the same these days. "We need Bonnie's help. What is wrong with you?"

I stopped struggling and was even angrier when I felt that my tears had spilled over. "You want a threesome with Bonnie? She'd never—" I looked at the woman and saw with surprise it _was_ Bonnie. She was older, harder, and had too much make-up, but I saw the shape of her eyes, her mouth, and the same exact hair. Maybe _this _Bonnie would do something like that.

Damon looked almost as confused as I felt, but we were both distracted by Bonnie's cry. "Elena!" She whirled around and hid her face. "I can't believe you brought her here to see me like this!" She yelled at Damon. "How could you! Oh, God, Elena don't look at me!" Her shoulders started to shake.

I hastily brought my gaze back up from her bare butt. I turned to him. "Your plans are ruined." I spat at Damon.

"Elena, what are you talking about? I don't want a threesome." He whispered furiously, as he edged away from the crying Bonnie.

"Then why would you bring me here? Was it a coincidence?"

"No!" He yelled, still confused and frustrated. "I told you I was looking up people to ask to help us with Klaus. Don't you remember?"

"Oh." I said, and felt my whole body go weak. The anger was gone as abruptly as it came, sapping up my strength along with it. All I wanted to do was cuddle up in his arms and just be relieved. But the woman quietly sobbing beside us was distracting me. I tried to remember that this was Bonnie, and vaguely recalled the days when we'd been such good friends. How many years had passed, ten or so? Not so many, then, but it felt like a lifetime. I tried to draw on those days as I stepped closer to her and put a hand delicately on her shoulder.

She turned around and finally faced me. Her face was wet with tears, and her make-up ran down her dark face in even darker streams. I softly brushed them away, but the make-up stayed there, smeared. She gave me a pitiful smile, and memories I didn't realize I'd forgotten came flying back to me. The day we'd met—she'd pushed me in a pool, and I'd gotten out and pushed her in right back—how we'd instantly hated, then just as instantly, connected. I remembered telling her about my first kiss, and how excited she was for me. I drew her into a tight, quick hug, as those memories assaulted me along with many more.

She laughed and looked at me. "God, you haven't aged a day…Oh." She recoiled a little. "You're a vampire." She looked down at herself. After a moment, she looked back up, and I saw whatever had been there was gone. She stepped closer and gave me another hug. I tried to ignore the fact she was virtually naked. "Look at me. Still hung up on that, and even after you accepted me after seeing me like this." She shook her head at herself. "You always were the better person."

Hardly, I wanted to say, but didn't. I tried to smile, but the simple movement wouldn't come. Even now, I couldn't make myself feel the right kind of happy to see her. The kind that could light up your face, and make you smile, and makes you feel like chatting, but I did feel some kind of emotion. It was peace, but it seemed oddly dark, like only being near her was like relaxing in a midnight pool. I only wanted to sit next to her, and watch her, like she was a favorite doll, and I was a six year old who'd never ever had one before, and just wanted to look, and not get her dirty. I knew something wasn't quite right there, but couldn't shake the feeling. I could manage a sentence, though. "I'm so happy to see you." And though I couldn't smile, I could fill my eyes with the love I knew I was feeling, and it was such a nice emotion. This girl was my best friend, and ten years away couldn't change that, could it? I'd still give my life for her in an instant, I knew that. And I think she would have, too.

"I'm so glad you're back, Elena." She grasped my hand.

Damon cleared his throat. "Bonnie, we're here to ask for your help. Klaus found Stefan and Elena, and he killed Stefan." Bonnie gasped, and her hand gripped mine tighter. The compassion in her eyes made me uncomfortable. Damon continued. "He needs to be stopped." He shook his head. "He should have been dead ten years ago, but instead he's still alive, still a threat." He took Bonnie's hand, the one that wasn't holding mine, and got to his knees. "Please, Bonnie, I know you don't like me, but help me avenge my brother. You're the best chance we have at killing him." His eyes were shining and sincere.

Bonnie was staring down at him, shell-shocked. "I-I can't."

Damon reared back as if he'd been slapped. He stood stiffly, and anger set his mouth in a hard line. "I see." He grasped my upper arm. "Let's leave her alone."

"No, wait!" Bonnie reached out to stop him. "You don't understand." She looked down as if she was ashamed. "I want to, but I really can't."

"What happened?" He asked her, and I patted her shoulder in what I figured was a supportive gesture.

"Well, when you left, Jeremy was a mess. He was completely alone. Well, not completely. I was there, but I guess it wasn't enough. He left. Left Mystic Falls, even Virginia for all I know." Her eyes filled with moisture again, as if it still hurt to recall. "But he was the only thing keeping me together, and when he left I lost it." I remembered how Bonnie had only ever really had her grandmother as a supportive family figure, and how she'd died. Jeremy probably was the only one left for her after I'd left. "I went crazy, did reckless things. The ancestor witches converged on me one night, said I was misusing their powers. They were so pissed, and just like that, it was gone. My powers. I can't even light a candle any more." She wiped her eyes, and even more make-up smeared. "I think all the power went into this necklace." She said, sniffling. Her hands caressed a bright red stone with an intricate silver design all around it. "I can't figure out how to get them out."

"That's terrible." I said, unsure of what I should say.

"Well, the ancestors were kind of right. I robbed a bank." She laughed at the mirror expressions of shock on our faces. "Turns out even robbing a bank isn't a guarantee of financial security. I lived off the money for a few years until I ran out. There wasn't much else for me to do, but this-" She waved her free hand towards the club, "-it's not like I went to college or anything."

I swallowed, sad that my decision to leave had affected them like this. But I'd had to, for Stefan. I couldn't have bared life without Stefan, not after what happened to Jenna, I'd needed him. So we ran away, and I know even now that was the only thing I could've done. I just wish I could've helped them more before I left.

She hadn't let go of my hand. She was smiling at me, I guess it had felt good to get off her chest. Damon turned to whisper in my ear. "She was our best chance, but now that she's powerless, we can't put her in danger. We've got to go." He turned from me and leaned in close to look her in the eyes. "You never saw us." He told her, trying to work his compulsion.

For the first time, true anger lit Bonnie's features. "You want to try that, vampire? I am still a witch, even if I am powerless, and your compulsion doesn't do shit on me." She let go of my hand to put both at her hips, and stare at Damon defiantly.

He snarled. I got in between them. "We can't put you in danger, Bonnie, you know that. You're my friend." The word tasted funny on my tongue.

Her eyes locked onto mine with a fierce intensity, and if I didn't know better, I would say she was the vampire trying to do the compelling. "Elena, I _can _help, maybe not with magic stuff, but with other things. Maybe this is my chance to convince the witches I'm worthy of the powers again!" She was excited, and her eyes glittered as they looked into mine. She grabbed my shoulders, and as the dark shadow of peace slowly fell over me, I knew she already had me willing to do whatever she wanted if only she would stay near me.

If I were a better friend, I would have said no, I would have tried to protect her in her weakened state. But I was selfish, and I wanted her with me. I never wanted this dark peace to end. Like a dream, I realized, and although it pleased me, it still didn't quite feel real, so I couldn't fully enjoy it. But that didn't mean I wanted it to end. So I said to Damon, "Let her come. She can help with research and stuff." Bonnie shot me a grateful look. "Besides, maybe this _will _help her get her powers back, and she'll be grateful to you. Wouldn't you like to have a witch in your pocket?" I could tell Bonnie didn't like this, but it finally convinced Damon.

"Fine." He finally conceded. "Get your things, and we'll go to the mansion together." He stalked back off into the direction of the club.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked.

"You don't think we're ever going to let you go back to that life, do you?" I explained for him. "Bonnie, we can help you. Maybe you won't get your powers back, but do you really want to live like this? At the very least, we can help you get a better job, and until we work through this, you're staying at the mansion." I went off the follow Damon, leaving Bonnie a few steps behind with an open mouth. It didn't matter to me if she disagreed. It wouldn't do to have my best friend working at a strip club and living god-knows-where.

As we reentered the club, and Bonnie was getting her coat, one of the patrons decided to be overly obnoxious and creepy. He grabbed Bonnie's ass, and when she tried to get him off, he grabbed her wrist and she cried out in pain. Before I could even start moving towards them, Damon, who was closer to them than me, grabbed the man's hand and bent it back until I heard it crunch. The scene made me smile. He was so sweet to protect Bonnie like that. I sidled up to him and grabbed the hand that had dealt with her attacker. I kissed it, and he smiled at me. We held the hands as we walked out of the club, and barely noticed the bouncer that had come running towards the man howling in pain.

Bonnie turned to face Damon. "Thanks." She said, and I could see she was really touched. "They aren't supposed to touch us, but sometimes the drunk or stupid ones do." She turned away, and picked up her pace as she made her way to the door.

He looked uncomfortable as he turned to me in the dark club. "I only did it because I knew you would have done worse." I giggled and squeezed his hand. True, but I also knew that he'd done it just as much to appease his own anger.


	6. Matt

"So," Bonnie said eagerly, "what happened?" She asked in what was clearly a desperate attempt to try and get Elena to open up. That seemed obvious to Damon, at least, but he noticed Elena was staring blankly at the TV, listening as someone prattled on about weight-loss miracles, but not really paying attention. She was zoning out, as she often did, but she shrugged for Bonnie's benefit.

He had hoped having Bonnie there would finally snap Elena out of it, especially when he saw how Elena had reacted seeing her friend again. While she did seem calmer-which, really, she didn't need to be any more of—she still seemed rather empty. It was one extreme after another, emptiness, lust, anger, empty again. It was almost like she was a newborn vamp. Maybe Elena just wasn't ready to deal with it all yet. Maybe she just needed time, which she definitely had. And so did he. He wasn't giving up.

He rolled his eyes as Bonnie attempted yet another useless question. And Bonnie wasn't giving up, either, apparently. He decided to go rescue Elena from another shrug. Honestly, he was surprised her shoulders weren't sore.

He walked in front of them where they both sat on the couch in front of the TV in the second parlor. He loved the room in the daytime, it got so bright, but it was nighttime now. He stopped directly in front of Elena and bent over until his face was inches away from hers. He'd found it was the best way to get her attention. Well, that and groping her, but he didn't want to do that in front of company. She lost her gazed look, and as her eyes slowly focused on him, a slow smile spread across her face. He felt himself grin in return. "You want to go on an errand with me?"

"Yeah." She answered back simply, and they just stared into each other's face smiling, until the sound of Bonnie's throat clearing brought them back. He glanced at her and saw she was surprised at the interaction. Elena must not have told her about him. Which shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. He'd talk to Elena about it, maybe freshen up her memory on how to talk to friends, and how that entails telling them things sometimes. He found it ironic the guy who'd never had friends now had to give a former social butterfly advice.

He straightened and held out his hand. Elena stood and took it, clutching it with both of her own like it was a life preserver. "We'll be back later, Bonnie."

"Whatever." She said, frowning and crossing her arms as she turned back to the screen. Must have been a really great weight loss infomercial. Yeah, he'd definitely try to have a little talk with Elena. It wouldn't do to have Bonnie so upset, because although Elena wouldn't know why, he knew she would feel it. She was more in tune with people than she knew.

He decided to bring up the Bonnie situation while they drove to the hospital. "Elena, were you uncomfortable with Bonnie asking so many questions?"

"No, why?" She asked, staring out the window.

"I know you haven't seen her in a while, but she is still your friend, and you have to do right by her." He tried to look at Elena, but she kept her face turned from his.

"How?" She finally whispered.

"All you have to do is open up. When she asks questions, don't blow them off, give her details. Or, if you don't want to talk about it, tell her so. She'll understand, and even though you haven't told her anything, at least she'll know it's not because you want to ignore her." He still couldn't see Elena's expression. He took one hand off the wheel (his eyes hadn't even been on the road for a while) and grasped Elena's head so that he could turn it towards him. "Do you understand?" She didn't say anything. "You hurt her feelings when you ignored her, and I know you didn't mean to. Do you get it now? People need to talk, even if they don't actually say anything." Elena finally nodded, and he let her cheek go. She went back to looking out the window. "And it couldn't hurt to ask some questions of your own. Take an interest in your friend's life."

Elena pouted and didn't say anything more the rest of the drive to the hospital until they pulled into its parking lot. He got out of his car swiftly, and with his vampire speed was in the hospital and sneaking past patients and nurses easily. Elena tried to be as smooth as him. He stopped abruptly and hid behind a corner, waiting for a group of doctors walked by. "What are we doing here?" Elena asked grumpily.

"Getting more blood." He said shortly. "I'm eating for two now, remember?"

That shut Elena up, and he came to the vault that stored the blood without any problems. He'd had a lot of practice. He knew the code to unlock it, and when the door opened, he started grabbing handfuls of blood bags, giving some to her, and stuffing some in his pockets.

He had just closed the vault door when a man's voice shouted at them. "Hey, what do you think you're doing in there?" Damon grabbed the man by the neck and hauled him into the room, closing the room door as he did so.

"You didn't see anything unusual tonight." Damon was compelling the man before he'd even had a chance to scream.

But the compulsion didn't seem to be working right. The man only looked confused as he struggled to breath around Damon's hand. "Damon?" The man asked in a strangled voice.

"Matt?" Damon exclaimed, and released his hold on him. The name startled Elena, and she looked closer at the man now crumpled on the floor gasping for air. It was true, it _was _Matt, she thought. He had the same pleasing light blue eyes, but his hair was thinning and less blonde than it used to be. But his physic was just fine, and he was wearing blue scrubs.

He looked up and saw her for the first time. "Elena?" His voice sounded better now, and his face lit up with his smile. The laugh lines around his eyes were oddly attractive to her. "I can't believe it. I actually thought you were dead." He looked down at the blood bags in her hands. "I guess I don't have to ask why you don't look any older, or what you two are doing here."

"On a mission to kill Klaus. Needed to stalk up on blood. Leaving now." Damon said in clipped sentences, eager to be away from him.

"You want to kill Klaus? How can I help?" Matt asked, still the good old boy he used to be.

"You can't." Damon scoffed. "Come on, Elena." But even though he was going towards the door, she wasn't. She was still looking at him. At Matt.

"Maybe we can stay and _chat_." Elena said pointedly, smiling at Damon.

Ringing cut off Damon's response, and Matt pulled a phone from one of his pockets. Damon was standing next to him so he saw the woman's picture as the phone call flashed across his screen before Matt hit 'ignore'. But it only took a second to figure out what had Matt attracted to her in the first place. Her face was too thin, the dark circles under her eyes too pronounced, and hair too mousy a shade of brown, but there was a definite similarity between her and Elena.

Matt noticed Damon staring and explained, "My wife."

"Why aren't you answering?" Damon asked slickly. "You find out she's a poor substitute for the real thing?"

Matt followed Damon's eyes to Elena, and anger flashed across his face before it evaporated into stress. He drew a haggard breath and ran a hand through his thinning hair. "She was probably calling about the divorce papers." He sighed. "And I just can't deal with it right now."

Elena put a slim hand on Matt's shoulder and gave him a gentle smile. Matt smiled up at her gratefully. "What happened between you two?" She rubbed gentle circles in his arm and Damon watched each revolution with a slimy, acidy, jealous feeling. It especially annoyed him when he realized she was only using his advice, and taking an interest by asking questions.

"I proposed when I found out she was pregnant. We got married, but she lost the baby six months in. It was hard on both of us, but especially on her." His voice broke. "Last night she told me she couldn't stand the sight of me."

"Oh." Elena let out a small gasp, but then drew Matt into a firm hug. For a moment, Damon thought Matt was going to start blubbering like a baby in Elena's arms, but he didn't.

Damon had to restrain himself from ripping Elena away from him when he started to feel the hug was going on too long. He only managed to stop himself by rationalizing that this was helping Elena connect to people. And Damon had to help her, even if it meant letting some idiot human put his arms around her in an embrace.

Matt finally pulled away. "Thanks." He told her. "Look, Damon, I know I'm not anything special, but please let me help you." He took a deep breath. "I could really use the distraction right now."

"How could you possibly help us? Klaus would wipe the floor with you without even realizing he was doing it." Damon tried to turn, but stopped when he felt Elena grab his arm. Shit, he knew where this was headed.

She turned him so that he was looking into those compelling brown eyes. "Let him stay at the mansion, Damon. He can help Bonnie with the research."

He heard the pleading tone in her sweet voice, saw it in her eyes, and almost broke right there, but found his steely composure at the last moment. "No."

"I can help with research, you should see me research really, I'm amazing." Damon glared at Matt as he spoke, but Matt didn't seem to be intimidated. "I can also patch anyone up who gets hurt in a fight without any hassle from ER doctors or police." Damon still looked unimpressed. "I can also do some grunt work like get coffee, maybe do your blood runs for you?"

Damon had been opening his mouth to blow Matt off, but shut it suddenly. Having someone on hospital staff getting his blood for him _would _be convenient. It finally convinced him. "Fine. Do research, give stitches, whatever, but when you see that blood's running low, you have to restock it, understood?" Damon asked, his blue eyes harsh and glaring.

Matt nodded eagerly, and Elena's face broke out into a huge smile. "Bonnie will be so pleased to see you, Matt." She chirped, sounding all the world like she'd finally found a companion for a desperately lonely toy. "Bring your stuff by the mansion after work and get settled in. There are so many rooms to choose from!"

And very few they hadn't had sex in, he thought. But then Elena grabbed his hand, and swung it between them like an excited five-year-old as they carried their stolen blood to the car and all other thoughts were forgotten. Her smile somehow managed to be sweet and innocent and sexy and inviting all at the same time.

000000

Later that night, Damon watched as Elena sat on the couch next to Bonnie. Bonnie didn't say anything, but Elena tried taking the initiative and striking a conversation first. It didn't look like it was going too well, and Damon had a sneaking suspicion that if Elena still sweat, she would be right then.

Damon heard footsteps approach, but didn't turn around. He heard Matt set down two heavy suitcases and give a deep sigh. Damon didn't think it was one of excursion, but rather one of pure exhaustion. He wouldn't be hard to take down at all. Damon could just tell Elena that he never showed, and boom! Just like that, a potential threat to their new relationship was eliminated. But he couldn't do that to her, he thought, finally turning to face him. He wasn't wearing scrubs anymore, instead opting for a pair of shorts and a white beater.

Matt just stood there and didn't talk, but he was watching Elena so intently Damon's gums tingled with need to unleash his fangs on the boy's neck. He tried to hold back, but couldn't help the growl that escaped. "I don't like the way you're looking at her." Damon spit out, barely containing the venom in his voice.

Matt looked back at him, startled. "I didn't mean to-"

"You still love her," Damon accused.

Matt hazarded a quick look back at her. "Yeah, I still have feelings for her. They've never gone away, and I don't think they ever really will." His voice had gone quiet, but Elena was completely oblivious. Bonnie was talking to her rapidly in an excited voice, and though Elena looked overwhelmed, she was trying to keep up. "But I see the way she is now, with Bonnie, how hard it is for her. She's not quite the same girl she used to be. It was clear even at the hospital." He absently rubbed his shoulder.

"Bonnie hasn't noticed, because Bonnie's changed, too." Damon reflected.

Matt nodded and moved his hand. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"What is that?" Damon interrupted, grabbing Matt and pulling him so that Damon could see his arm better. There was a bruise, the size of a softball, in deep purple on Matt's right shoulder. Right where Elena had rubbed the circles in his arm that Damon had been so jealous of. "Why didn't you say anything?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"What good would it have done?" Matt countered. "Anyway, my point was, I saw the way she is with you. With Bonnie it's hard, but with you it's easy. She looks like the girl I knew." Matt turned back around to watch her once more. "Hell, she looks _happier_ than that girl. So, I don't mind, and I'm not going to try and steal her away. As if I even could. I know I wouldn't make her half so happy, and I just want what's best for her. Besides, I have other things on my plate right now," he said, fingering the ring of white flesh around the finger on his left hand where his wedding band obviously used to be. He snapped out of his thoughts and reached down to pull a light sweatshirt over his arms, just so that his bruise wouldn't show. He went over and walked to the girls.

Damon stayed where he was, and watched as Bonnie squealed at seeing him and jump into his arms. He watched Matt spin her around in his arms, and watched Elena observing them quietly, happily. For once, it occurred to him that he might not have to fix Elena alone, and that this boy who suffered a bruise with a complete poker face as it happened might be the only other person who wanted Elena to get better as much as he did.

**_A/N: Big thanks to Pokinmju and LittleGooseWalking, who left wonderful, thoughtful reviews. Also, everyone who alerted or favorited. You rock!_**


	7. Caroline and Tyler

I wasn't really sure why Damon hadn't jumped at the chance to let me come this time. Part of me was afraid it was because he was getting sick of me hanging around, but rationally I knew it was more likely he just didn't want me around inviting Caroline into the mansion after he'd already deemed her useless or something.

It was a long car ride to sit through in mostly silence. For the first time in a very long time, the quiet bothered me. "Damon," I began hesitantly, "are you mad at me?"

He looked at me in surprise. "Why would you think that?"

"You don't seem like you want me here." He didn't say anything. "You didn't mind before."

He sighed, and looked tired. "I was afraid it would…upset…you, seeing Caroline." He avoided my eyes, and was looking intently at the road, even though I knew he didn't need to to drive well.

I thought about it for a minute, and finally it hit me. "You mean, because of Jenna?"

"Yes," he said slowly, "When Caroline escaped, Jenna died in her place."

I bit my lip. "I know this sounds bad, but…I hardly even remember her. It feels like she was a lifetime ago. And even if I still felt the pain like it was yesterday, I know it's not Caroline's fault. The only person to blame is Klaus."

Damon let out a breath. "I didn't know how you felt about it."

"You could have asked," I said at last, quietly.

He finally looked at me instead of the road. "Next time I will," he promised.

The silence after that wasn't strained, it was comfortable, and the time passed unnoticed. That was why I was surprised when we seemed to get there so early. Well, that and the fact we'd stopped at the gate to a mansion. And not even a mansion like the Salvatore one, this one was at least three times the size of that. "This is where Caroline is staying?" I asked uncertainly. Damon just snorted.

There was an actual guard at the gate. He asked us our names, and it was at least ten minutes before he was given the okay to let us pass. Damon drove up the winding road that led to the house. It ended with a large circle drive that went around a fountain. An eager valet ran forward to meet us, but Damon growled at him to leave his car the hell alone.

Another person met us at the door, and told us to follow her to her Master (her words, not mine). We were led into a large dark ballroom with black and white tile floors. There was an honest to God throne at the end of it. A bouncy blonde head hopped from the high seat and ran forward to meet them.

"Ohh my gosh, Elena!" A voice squealed, and I felt Caroline wrap her arms around me before I actually saw it. "It's been so long!" She held her at arms length to examine her. "Oh, _and_ you're a vampire? Isn't it the greatest!" She giggled. "Hi, Damon!" She made a move as if to hug him, then stopped as she seemed to think better of it. "What brings you guys here?" Before we could tell her, her hand flew up in a halting gesture. "Wait!" She used her vampire speed to zoom herself back over to her throne and she settled herself on it. She waved at us to continue, and stared down at us as if she were a queen.

We walked forward slowly. "Caroline," Damon started, but stopped when he saw a figure come from the darkness of her throne's shadow. "Tyler. What a pleasant surprise." But Damon didn't look surprised, or pleased.

Tyler scoffed. "Yeah right."

"You don't think I'm happy to see you?" Damon asked innocently.

"I meant the surprise part, but now that you mention it…" Tyler trailed off sardonically. "Whatever you want from Caroline, you aren't getting it."

"Tyler," Caroline whined, "We talked about this. We make decisions as a couple. I know you're alpha now, but we are a _partnership_." She paused. "Like in that dumb movie you made me watch."

"That was a fellowship." Tyler bit back.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Why are you here?" Tyler asked angrily, his attention completely back on us.  
>"We've come for your help defeating Klaus." Damon said evenly.<p>

"What do you think we can do to help?" Caroline scoffed nervously.

"What would we get out of it?" Tyler asked at the same time.

Elena tried to answer Caroline's question. "You could help us just by lending us your strengths, help with battle strategies, really, just having another person could mean a world of difference."

Caroline paused to consider Elena's words as Damon spoke to Tyler. "You get to _not die_. How does that sound?"

"Is that a threat?" Tyler growled, and I saw that his hands were now wicked looking claws.

"No, trust me, if I wanted you dead, I wouldn't bother with threats," Damon took a step forward.

"Bring it on, Dickhead." Tyler sneered.

"Tyler!" Caroline snapped. "Knock it off! These are _guests, _and you are being _so_ rude."

"I'll only knock it off if Damon leaves. Now." Tyler crossed his arms and leaned against her chair, glaring at Damon.

"I'm not leaving." Damon warned.

"Damon, I think you should just shut up for a little bit." I gave him my most reasoning look. He took a deep breath, and I saw tension leave his shoulders.

"Good dog." Tyler mocked.

Fury lit up Damon's eyes, and he bared his teeth. "Oh, that's rich, coming from you." He strode forward, but I held out my arm, and pushed him back with only the strength in my fingers. He went back a couple feet and gave me a glare, but at least he stopped moving.

"Look," I said, trying to wrap things up in what I thought might be a convincing argument. "Klaus is extremely dangerous and impulsive. He could, at any moment, decide to find the people who escaped him to kill them, just for kicks. He did that with Stefan, he might want to do it again." They were both watching me raptly, her eyes a dark red hole, his an eerie shining yellow sword. "If we found you, chances are he can find you, too. Hell, he might actually know already. The truth is, as long as he's alive, none of us are ever really safe. And we'd be safer in numbers, that's why we came here." I backed away from them and took Damon's hand. "But I can see that all our visit has done is trouble you, so we'll be leaving now."

Damon was reluctant to leave, and I had to tug him a little to get him moving. "What are we doing?" He hissed when we finally got outside.

"Be patient," I told him as we got to the car.

Caroline and Tyler were already in the backseat. Damon looked shocked, but took it in stride. "Awesome," he said as he started the engine.

"So, this has nothing to do with vengeance?" Tyler asked, once we started moving.

"Maybe a little." Damon conceded.

"Good," he said shortly, "Bastard killed Jules. She taught me everything I know."

Caroline made a little distressed noise as they grew further from her 'house'. "I don't want to leave, and I _don't _want to go to the Salvatore mansion. It's so _small!_" She whined.

"It'll be fine, honey," Tyler said, trying to console her.

"But what about my poor, poor minions? What will they do without me?" She was turned around her seat looking out the back window. The darkness would have blocked the view of her mansion, even if we had been in range of it.

"Minions?" Damon laughed.

"Yes!" She said, miffed, "My servants, my children."

"_You _made a vampire?" Damon laughed even harder.

She gave him an indignant look, but it was wasted as she was in the back and he in the front. "Two, actually!"

"I'm amazed," Damon said truthfully, "that such a spaz was able to manage making _one_ baby vamp, let alone two. Especially considering how you handled your own transformation."

"Hey!"

She shrieked, but it was Tyler who really stood up for her. "You better watch your mouth Dumbass Salvatore. She's a better person than you could ever hope to be." He leaned in close to whisper in Damon's ear. "I remember what you did to her when you two first met, and even though she's over it, it still pisses me off. And all it takes is one little bite. You remember the feel of the poison, right? You getting bitten was what ultimately got your brother dead, isn't it?" He patted Damon on the shoulder and leaned back in his seat.

Damon didn't say anything, but I saw the way his hand clenched the steering wheel, and how his eyes stayed fixed on the road as if her were trying to melt it with the power of his stare. I gripped his hand, and even though his demeanor didn't change, he gripped my hand back and held it tight.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I heard something from the backseat: kissing. I glanced in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, Caroline and Tyler were sucking face. It only served to make the silence more awkward, at least for Damon and I. I could only take ten more minutes of the light smacking and low moans. Not only did I find it annoying, but it was also starting to make me horny. "Could you two take a break?" I suggested. "Like, forever?"

"Jealous, much, Elena?" Caroline purred.

"More like, 'nauseous, much?', Caroline." I snapped.

Mercifully, Tyler's lips stopped moving. Not so mercifully, Caroline's kept going. She leaned closer to me from her seat in the back and started chatting. "It's not like it's, wrong or dirty, or anything." I felt my mouth pull down in a grimace, even as my eyebrows were inexplicably pulled up. "We're married!" Caroline said excitedly.

"You know that wouldn't matter to me, Care," I said, referring to the controversial and religious 'marriage before sex' thing, but it was clear Caroline was just using that as an excuse to show me her ring. I was stunned speechless.

"Well?" She prodded, looking for a response.

"That is-that's _huge_!" I managed to choke out, noticing Damon was peeking at her from the corner of his eye.

"I know." She said, smugly looking at the honking rock perched on her finger.

"It's not the only huge thing she enjoys from me." Tyler said, just as smugly.

Caroline knocked him in the ribs. "Inappropriate."

She leaned forward and hugged my seat with both of her arms. Closer than I was comfortable with, but it did give me a good chance to look at her ring again. The main Diamond was twice the size of my thumb, and that was just the main one. It also had a bunch of cute pick stones here and there, very Caroline. "How _do _you hold that thing up?" I asked, amused.

"Vampire strength." She said deftly, and with a devilish smile.

"Would you like a ring like that, Elena?" Damon asked slyly, piping up for the first time in this conversation.

"I already had one, didn't work out so well," I answered, squeezing his hand. He looked away.

Caroline looked from Damon to me, and them back again. Finally, down at out hands. "OHMIGOD!" She screeched, and Damon jerked the wheel involuntarily before righting the car once more. "Are you two together, like _together _together?"

"Yes, Caroline." I said calmly.

"Holy shit!" She said, at the same time Tyler asked, "Why are you dating Dipshit Salvatore, Elena?"

"Hey, right here," Damon interrupted.

"So?" Caroline and Tyler both said, finally saying the same thing for once.

I held my head high. "We're together," I said definitively, "and that's that."

"Yeah," Damon added, bringing my hand to his face as he drove, "We love each other." He kissed the back of my hand and let them both fall back between us on the middle seat.

It surprised me that he'd said that, but I didn't correct him. After all, if this wasn't love, then what was? Sometimes it felt like I lived every day just to see his face and hold his hand. Just to kiss him. It was like that with Stefan, and I'd called that love, too. Yes, Damon was definitely the keeper of my heart, but why did I still feel…not quite happy? Something was broken inside of me. And Damon loved me anyway, was trying to fix me _anyway. _I hope he isn't too devastated when he learns that I can't be fixed.

"Well, uh, good for you then, if you're happy." I almost winced at Caroline's well-meaning words.

"Thank you, and congratulations to you, as well." I paused, desperately not wanting this to become another stretch of awkward silence. "How, um, may I ask, did you two get together? I thought you and Matt-" I broke off.

"Matt couldn't handle my being a vampire. We broke up, and I left Mystic Falls as soon as I could. I needed to start over new. I met Tyler in New Orleans sometime later, and everything just clicked, and made sense." She looked back over at him dreamily. He smiled back at her, and pulled her into his lap. They started up with that awful smacking noise again.

"Really?" I said, desperate to distract them. "Matt seemed okay with my being a vampire when we talked to him a while ago."

She yanked herself away from Tyler. "What?"

"Umm," I said uncomfortably.

"He always did like you best." She pouted.

"No," I insisted, "I think he's just been through a lot lately, and that's put things in prospective for him."

"Really," Caroline tried to lean forward, excited at the prospect of some juicy gossip, but the arm Tyler had around her waist held her back. "Like what?" She asked.

"I don't think it's really my place to say. He can tell you himself when we get to the mansion." I said diplomatically.

"What?" Caroline asked, and recoiled like she'd been shot. "You didn't say he'd be there." She looked paler than usual, and being a vampire, that was saying something.

"It's all right, Care." I heard Tyler whisper in her ear. "He shunned me, too, remember? We can finally get past this."

Whispering was more like an illusion in a car full of vampires, but we pretended not to hear any way. It sounded like Matt had really hurt Caroline and Tyler, and they might have a lot to work through.

All of my efforts to avoid the uncomfortable silence failed. It was how my evening started, and I guessed it was how my evening was going to end.

_**Another thanks to my two favorite *cough* only *cough* reviewers LittleGooseWalking and Pokinmju. I got a kick out of the fact you both brought up that I mentioned you, but really, I honestly think wonderful reviewers such as yourselves deserve much more...like pedistals and an endless supply of frappuccinos or something. Thanks to both again!**_


	8. Alaric

**_A/N: I am sooo so sorry for the slow update! My mom was very sick, and I was busy fetching her blankets and water and such. She's tons better now, so I finally let myself have some fun! Ahem, the awesomeness awards go to Pokinmju, LittleGooseWalking, diehardromantic, and inside my mind1 for reviewing! Thanks._**

Alaric crouched low beneath the window, the bushes at its base hardly rustling at his slight disturbance. The lights were off, but he knew _it_ was in there. He hadn't wanted to come back to Mystic Falls, not after what happened, but he'd had no choice. It was getting harder to get intel on vampires these days. He supposed he should count himself lucky one of his contacts had finally come through, and gave him the heads-up.

Someone from Mystic Falls was taking more blood than they could cover up from the hospital, and Alaric betted it wasn't the gardener. Whoever it was is currently staying in the old mansion. He'd broken into the hospital blood bank himself and put miniscule GPS trackers on a few of the bags. Only one had left the hospital, and that had led him here. How fitting, he thought, that a vampire would choose this place.

Alaric was itching for another kill. It had been _months_ since the last time he'd staked a vamp. Without the hunt to distract himself, he found himself thinking more about Jenna, and how she'd died, which was unacceptable. He knew the only way he'd ever be able to think about her again without going crazy was to know the sonuva bitch that did it was dead. But Alaric hadn't come close to even a hint of Klaus' whereabouts. He was lost, and the only thing he could do in the meantime was kill enough vamps and leave enough of a trail that maybe Klaus would come looking for him.

So far, shit out of luck. But in the meantime, he should really focus on the next scum he was about to wipe off the face of the Earth. He tripped over a tree root in the dark. He mentally cursed himself. If _it _heard that, he had just lost the element of surprise, which was one of the best advantages a human hunter like him had. _Oh well,_ he reasoned, _it's not like I really care if I die anymore._

He carefully and soundlessly picked the lock, a real pro at it by now. There were no lights on, not even the dim light a few dying embers from a fire might have given off. He had taken a few feet into the living room, tripping only once over a couch (someone must have rearranged), when a shrieking alarm went off.

Alaric almost pissed himself—vampires _never _had alarms, it had almost been like an unspoken rule! He tried to ready himself by taking out a stake and moving into a crouch, expecting an attack from anywhere in the dark room.

The sudden bright light that was flicked on assaulted Alaric's eyes almost as much as the sudden noise had pained his ears. His eyes rapidly tried to adjust, and for the first time his heart beat sped up.

The alarm was still going strong and steady when his eyes finally adjusted. He found that he was ducked down behind the couch so that he was blocked from the view of anyone who might have come from one of the rooms. He felt a little hope stir his heart, and the rapid beat was now pure adrenaline from the rush. Noise like that probably cut off the vamp's hearing, too, and that was one of their greatest strengths.

He was readying himself as he came around the side of the couch, ready to pounce on whatever undead creature was about to come around the corner.

00000

Matt rounded the corner at a run, his socks making him slid a little on the hardwood floor. He was brandishing a baseball bat and looking from side to side wildly.

Alaric barely stopped himself from leaping at him in time. "Matt?" He asked, confused. "You're the vampire?" He fingered his stake uneasily, not sure whether he could kill someone he once knew, even if they were a vampire now.

Matt reached over to the wall, and for the first time, Alaric noticed the white security pad on it. He watched as Matt typed in numbers, and memorized them in case they might come in handy later.

Bonnie came around the corner in a skimpy purple teddy. Alaric tried not to stare. She yawned sleepily. "What's going on?" She asked.

Before Matt or even Alaric could answer, Elena and Damon were suddenly in the room, vampire speed put to use.

But that wasn't why everyone was suddenly staring at them. They were staring because both Elena and Damon were stark naked. And neither looked none too embarrassed about it, Alaric noticed. He guessed he knew why it had taken them so long compared to the others to get here. If he'd thought it was hard taking his eyes off Bonnie, it was doubly so for the completely bare Elena. She looked like she hadn't aged a day…everything completely firm, supple—he swallowed as he realized where this line of thought was going. He told the part of him that was reasoning that it was okay 'because they weren't his students anymore' to shut up.

Damon noticed him looking, and growled. He put his own naked body in front of hers to bloke her from view, and Alaric was suddenly able to look away with ease. Elena still looked completely unfazed and unabashed.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked, his voice deep and his eyes glittering with something Alaric didn't quite want to contemplate.

Alaric's reply was delayed by the arrival of Caroline and Tyler. They were both trying to walk while wrapped in the same thin, white sheet. She giggled. "Did we miss anything?" She surveyed the room. She turned back to Tyler, giving everyone a glimpse of her bare butt. "It's just Alaric, let's go back to bed." She said it quietly, but everyone in the room heard it. They also heard the noise Tyler's hand made when making contact with said bare butt. She giggled some more as they exited the room.

They were silent for a moment as they watched—and heard—Tyler and Caroline exit the room. Caroline had always seemed a little self-involved, and Alaric wondered if becoming a vampire had only made her more so. Alaric noticed a scowl on Matt's face, and that his fingers had tightened around his bat.

"Nice to feel wanted." Alaric muttered, trying to break the tension. Elena let out a startled laugh and stepped out from behind Damon. Damon looked irritated, but didn't stop her. She walked over to Alaric and gave him a hug. Alaric tried not to react to a gorgeous, young, _naked _girl hugging him by thinking about the fact she was basically Jenna's daughter. It worked. A little.

Damon gently pulled her away and glared at Alaric. Matt came over and pulled his large white tank off until he was standing there in his boxers. Matt pulled up her arms while he tugged the shirt over her, Damon helping him on her other side. She went along with this complacently. Damon made no move to cover his own naked body, nor did he sem concerned about doing it any time soon. Alaric tried not to notice how raising her arms made her already perky breasts lift even more. It had been a _long_ time. He tried to focus his attention on the also scantily clad Bonnie, because he was afraid the combined glare from Matt and Damon might actually be looks enough to kill. Bonnie didn't seem too embarrassed by his gaze either. Man, what had _happened _to these women? They used to be innocent, blushing little things. Now they were all grown up and…tempting.

Bonnie finally noticed his stare and held his gaze evenly. She was waiting for him to look away and blush. But they weren't the only ones who'd changed. So had he. Finally, Bonnie laughed. "I'll go change."

But Elena had no such qualms. She took Alaric's hand easily, friendly, and led him to the couch. She sat down and patted the cushion next to her. Alaric sat as close as he could without fear of Damon ripping his guts out, or Matt beating him with his bat, which he was, at the moment, clenching and unclenching in his grip. That pretty much meant he sat on the other end of the couch.

Elena looked hurt for a moment, until Damon settled himself next to her and pulled her onto his lap. Alaric was actually grateful Damon put Elena on his lap, as it covered up certain parts he'd rather not see. Her face didn't change at all during the process, but she tugged at his arms until he obligingly wrapped them around her waist. That earned Damon a small smile. She didn't seem to mind the possessiveness at all. In fact, she seemed to relish it, as she hugged his arms to her.

Matt chose to lean against the wall facing the couch, on one side of the fireplace. He finally put his bat down, but his arms were still crossed menacingly as he watched Alaric like a guard might watch a particularly dangerous criminal. When Bonnie came into the room, she leaned on the wall opposite the side of the fireplace where Matt was. She'd put on jeans and a white tee shirt, but Alaric could still see the frilly purple edge of her tiny purple nightgown poking out from under her shirt. She'd probably kept it on because she planned on going to bed after this.

Alaric had long ago put away his stake, there was no way he was attacking anyone in a house with this many people. Besides, he already had an unspoken agreement with Damon. He wouldn't attack him with a stake if Damon wouldn't kill him anymore. Of course, that was when Alaric had still had the ring…

"So, Ric, why are you here?" Damon demanded.

This time, there were no randy couples coming in to interrupt his response. "I had some insider information that a vampire was taking blood from a hospital in Mystic Falls. I put a tracer on one of the bags, and it ended up here." He looked at Damon, proud of himself for ignoring the way Matt's shirt was riding high on Elena's thighs. "That must have been you."

Damon paused uneasily for a second. Finally, he gave a curt nod. Matt opened his mouth, but Damon shook his head at him. Matt stayed silent.

"That's a lot of blood, Damon. Pretty careless of you, too." Alaric admonished.

"I'm not used to having to supply for two." Alaric was confused for a second, before he saw how Damon looked pointedly at Elena.

Alaric got up, stake in hand. "Is that Katherine?" It would explain why she was so cool and unembarrassed, why she was with Damon in the first place, and why the hell she was a vampire.

"No." She answered before anyone else could, with a little pout. When he just continued to look unsure, she elaborated, "Stefan turned me because of the threat from Klaus."

Alaric wanted to know where Stefan was, after all, he'd been the only decent vamp Alaric had ever met, but didn't want to make anything more awkward for Damon and Elena. Especially with the way they were interacting. More physically than Alaric ever remembered Stefan and her being, but at the same time it seemed almost unintentional, or involuntary. Natural. "I've been hunting Klaus."

For the first time that evening, Damon smiled. "Us, too. He killed Stefan." Alaric tried to stutter out his condolences, but Damon held up a hand, silencing him. "You've currently caught us in the reinforcements stage." He paused. "What exactly did you plan on doing with that, by the way?" He asked, motioning to the bulge in Alaric's pants where he'd hastily stashed the stake when he'd realized how many people were actually here. At least, he hoped Damon was referring to _that_ bulge.

Alaric's lack of answer seemed answer enough for Damon. "What, are you some kind of vampire hunter now?" He scoffed at the very idea.

"I've always been a hunter," he said back, hotly. Damon's smile just grew. "I've killed over thirty since…since Jenna." The look on Damon's face was replaced with one of surprise. "It's been part of my plan to draw Klaus out, but so far, nothing."

"I don't know if I should be impressed or pissed." Damon finally answered. "But your plan sucks. Klaus doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself. Besides, I already know where he is."

Alaric snapped to attention. "You do?" He asked, eagerly.

"Yes," Damon said, oozing superiority. He leaned forward suddenly, catching Alaric's gaze. "But you won't be coming with us. It's too dangerous for a human, and we already have two to worry about. Go back to wherever you came from and forget all about ever seeing any of us. Give up your crazy renegade vampire hunter shtick and start a normal life." Damon leaned back away from Alaric, confidant his compulsion was successful.

Eventually, Alaric's blank, unblinking look gave way to pure disbelief. "Are you serious? You don't think I would put myself on Vervain after choosing to pursue vampires for a living?" He gave a half smile, completely incredulous.

Matt and Bonnie burst out laughing. After a second, Elena joined them. She jabbed Damon in the ribs. "I think you're losing your touch, honey." He growled, and stood up, throwing her over his shoulders. Elena had giggled much the same way as Caroline had. Damon started to walk away with her dangling there.

Elena wiggled on Damon's back as he started to walk out of the room. At first Alaric thought she was trying to escape, but then he realized she was just trying to wiggle out of the shirt. Probably because she wouldn't be needing it. She finally succeeded and threw it at Mat, who caught it looking amused. Alaric wondered why those two weren't more jealous acting of each other, they certainly didn't seem to like him.

She lifted her head from Damon's back to look at Alaric. "You can pick out a room, if you want!" She yelled, just before disappearing around the corner, bouncing along with Damon's steps as she traveled on his shoulder.

000000

Damon dropped me on our bed. He had a strange look on his face, like too many things were going on inside him for there to be any discernable expression for me to read. "What?" I finally asked.

"You smell like two other men." I could tell he was biting his own teeth as he said it.

Instead of annoying me, as jealousy used to, I felt a strange spark of excitement at his words. Or maybe it was the dark look he was giving me as his eyes moved up and down my naked body. "Then make me smell like you, again," I said breathlessly. I lifted my arms and stretched out, watching from the corner of my eye how he followed my movements. He sat down next to me, putting one palm high on my thigh, teasingly close to where I suddenly wanted him to be.

"And how should I go about doing that?" He asked, his hand inching closer to my center.

"Maybe a bath?" I suggested through half-closed lids.

He startled me by grabbing both of my legs and yanking them open. "Okay," he said quickly, kneeling between them. He wasted no time dipping his head down to me and licking.

"I meant in a bath tub," I said, but not strong enough for it to be called a protest.

He didn't reply, just moved lower to thrust his tongue inside me. I couldn't even squirm, his hold was too tight. One of his hands moved to circle my clit as his tongue suddenly curled to lick that sensitive spot inside me. The sensations of his thumb was almost nothing compared to the way he moved his soft tongue roughly against the tender flesh that was enough of a stimulant by itself.

My body started shaking, and I threw my head back on the bed. My hands found his hair, and I wasn't sure if I was trying to pull him off or get him closer. I moaned, and he flicked his tongue harder against me.

When my orgasm hit, I was begging him to stop and let me ride out the wave as it swept through me, but he refused to let go and continued to play with me, prolonging the sensations until the shocks of pleasure that went through me were almost painful and unbearable.

When he finally let go of me, I sighed in relief. But that was short lived, as he was repositioning me again, so that my legs hugged his waist. He sunk into me gently, and I had to drop my head back again and squeeze my eyes closed. I was trying to prepare myself for the inevitable and relentless pushing, but opened my eyes in surprise when I realized it hadn't come yet.

He was looking at me with a small smile. "Don't worry, I'm waiting. I just needed to be inside you." He dropped small kisses onto my lips, my face, neck, as his fingers tweaked and circled both nipples. I was arching my back into him, and catching his mouth in an intense kiss. His hands played with my hair, slid up and down my back, and came back up to cup my breasts.

I didn't even realize he was moving his hips slowly into me until I felt a small wave of pleasure. He withdrew only a little and pushed slowly back inside a few times. Then he withdrew a little more, but moved forwards just as slowly. He was taking it easy on me, I realized. I tried to move back up into him to let him know he could slam into me—to let him know that was what I _needed_, but he held my hips down and grinned. He's not going easy on me, I amended, he's _torturing _me. Suddenly I needed him to pound into me, to hear the slap of our flesh, to feel the quick, harsh fireworks, but no matter what I tried to do, he held me still and kept up his slow enjoyment of my body.

I may have not had my quick fireworks, but after a few more minutes of his maddening movements, I discovered I was on _fire. _I struggled and moaned, but he kept complete control. He lifted my hips and when he slid into me again, I was sure no one had ever felt so deep inside me. My breathing came out harsh, and I noticed his was starting to falter, too, but he held me still easily. He kissed me while still slowly surging forward, and I screamed as one slow push finally rocked me into an orgasm. I threw my head back as even then he prolonged its life by slowly barreling into me. He finally lost control and shouted as he came, but even with his last thrust, he was gentle.

He collapsed next to me on the bed, and pulled me into his arms. I wasn't sure if that was me shaking or him. I wasn't even sure which breathe taken was mine or his, as he held me to him it felt like we were one.

I had almost drifted off to sleep when I felt the ground fall from beneath me. I opened my eyes to see his face above mine. He had picked me up and was carrying me somewhere. "Damon, where are we going?"

"You said you wanted a bath, right?" He asked, grinning.

00000

Two hours later, Damon was finally tucking her into bed with the intention of actually sleeping. "Damon." Elena moaned, burying her head into the pillows. "I don't think I'll ever be able to walk again."

Damon threw a possessive arm over her. "Oh, well. As long as you're able to open your legs."

"Damon!" She elbowed him, but not very hard. She pulled the covers around herself. Just when Damon thought she might have fallen asleep, she said in a quiet voice, "I want to see my brother."

She heard him whisper 'okay', but she didn't see the excited, hopeful smile on his face.


	9. Jeremy

_**A/N: It's kind of a short chapter, and it's definitely not my favorite, but I think it does what I wanted it to. It shows Elena is really starting to care again. Another thank you to my speedy reviewer friend, Pokinmju.**_

"Elena. You can't hide behind me forever." Damon said patiently as he tried-unsuccessfully—to pull me out from behind him.

"Not yet!" I hissed.

"He's coming closer," he said urgently.

"I don't see him," I said, peeking over his shoulder.

"He's there, trust me."

"I don't think I'm ready," I panted desperately. I wasn't ready to see my brother yet. I just wasn't. Damon had researched and tracked him all across states until he'd found out that Jeremy was currently a student at Harvard. All of Damon's hard work, and it turns out I was going to chicken out at the last minute.

"Oh, no you don't." Damon said, and instead of trying to pull me forward again like I expected, he disappeared. Leaving me completely uncovered. I was too panicked to move. Would Jeremy see me?

Despite my fears, I was craning my neck to see if I could find him. Most of the students were walking brusquely, talking or something, although Elena didn't see any phones, and all were dressed in suits. They passed her quickly, and Elena let out a sigh of relief…and disappointment.

Then, a man, rifling through a bunch of papers and trying to hold a bunch of books walked slowly and distractedly past her. He was muttering something, and his glasses looked in danger of falling from his face. He didn't look back once. "Jeremy?" I whispered. Then louder, "Jeremy!" I started to follow him.

"Oh great, another one," I heard him mutter.

"Wait!" I called out.

He spun around angrily. "Look, I'm kinda busy, could you just leave me the hell—" His eyes focused on her and widened. He dropped everything he was carrying. "No. NO! No no no no no no. Not you, too. God Elena." A tear slid down one pale cheek, and he looked breathless, like he'd just been given a punch to the stomach. He sank to his knees.

Was he really this upset over me being a vampire? "I'm sorry, Jeremy. I don't want you angry at me."

"Angry?" He choked out. "God, this is a joke." He shook his head. "I should have known. You've been gone without a word for so long. I should have known."

I bent down to collect his papers and books. "I'm sorry to have upset you," I began stiffly. "I'll go." I handed him back his things.

He sat up, took them, and dropped them again. My brows pulled down, and a brief spark of anger flashed through me, but then I saw his face. His eyes had gotten even wider, if possible, and his face even paler. "Elena?" He whispered. He put his hand on my shoulder. A choked laugh (or maybe it was a shout?) erupted from his throat. He pulled me into a hug. "I thought you were dead!"

"What? Why?" I asked, confused.

He smiled as he wiped more tears from his face. "I'll tell you everything." He promised, and bent to get his things again. "Do you want to go to a café or something?"

"Sure," I said slowly, "is it alright if Damon comes?"

"Anything you want," Jeremy said graciously.

Elena watched as Damon appeared seemingly from nowhere, but she knew he'd been watching and listening. She grabbed his hand as he walked towards them.

0000000

"Did-did you see Jenna?" I asked him tentatively. He had only just told me what happened after the battle with Klaus, and Damon's poisoning, how he saw ghosts now. He nodded. "That must have been terrible." I said, and patted his hand where it rested next to his mug of coffee. His hand flipped around on top of mine quickly and he just held it. I think he was still trying to convince himself that I was real.

He shrugged. "She only stuck around for a little while, then she uh, went away."

"Where to?" I asked.

"No idea. Wherever ghosts go when they're done here." He looked up from where his head had been hanging above his coffee.

For the first time I really looked at my brother. Seeing him older was completely different to seeing Matt older. This was my _brother. _This man did not seem like my kid sibling. He had stubble, glasses, and a haunted look that hung about his eyes. He looked like a sexy nerd. When had that happened? Well, I suppose he _was _going to Harvard. On the other hand, I did notice how he often starting twitching, and how he looked intently at things that weren't there. He even sometimes looked like he was whispering things to himself. The ghosts must not give him a lot of time to himself.

"So, Harvard, huh? How'd you get in? Not that I'm not proud of you, because I am." I added quickly.

"Scholarships, lots of scholarships." He smiled sadly.

"Wow, Jeremy." He looked uncomfortable at the wonder and pride in my eyes.

"It wasn't all me." He said, quietly. At my concerned and encouraging look, he continued. "The ghosts 'help' me." He spat out the word in disgust.

"What do you mean?"

"They tell me the right answer if I choose something wrong, like on a test." He shook his head. "I don't want their help, and I've been studying really hard so that the need never arises, but it just does. It happens, and what am I suppose to do?" He looked up helplessly. "Ignore it?"

"It's okay," I told him.

"Hey!" Damon yelled out, speaking for the first time in a while. I'd almost forgotten he was there.

"What?" I asked him, annoyed.

He was holding his cup far out in front of him. "My coffee cup just tried to spill on me!" He said, staring at the thing with disgust.

"That was Vicki." Jeremy said with disinterest. "She's still mad at you."

Damon looked around wildly. "I'm very sorry, Vicki. I shouldn't have done that to you." There was none of the sarcasm I'd have expected from Damon. His voice was sorrowful, his eyes sincere.

That didn't help him when a sugar packet flew up and hit him in the eye. "Ow!"

"Apology not accepted." Jeremy translated.

"Thanks, I got that." Damon bit out.

"So, Elena, what's your story?" Jeremy drew a slow sip from his black coffee. "What happened to you?"  
>I found myself telling him everything, things I hadn't even told Damon. A few tears even fell. I noticed Damon and Jeremy were looking at me with rapt expressions.<p>

"How can I help?" Was all he said once I was finished. He had even been okay when I mentioned that I was a vampire. He wasn't judging me at all, and he still looked at me the same as he always had.

I gave him a sad smile. "You can't. It's too dangerous. I can't risk it."

"Come on, Elena. You can't reappear back in my life and tell me all this and expect me not to do anything. And I _can _help."

I was shaking my head, but before I could tell him no, Damon was talking. "Elena, he's right. Besides, he'll probably be the safest one of us all. He still has the ring."

I bit my lip and considered this. I knew it was dangerous, but he _was_ pretty safe with the ring. And I selfishly didn't want him gone from my life now that I had him back. "Okay," I slowly agreed. "You'll be safe. Not only with the ring, but we did install that security system—"

Damon snorted and I glared at him.

"What's so funny?" Jeremy asked.

"Elena insisted on a state-of-the-art security system for the mansion. As if that would really do much good with what we're up against." But there was no venom in his voice as he said it, just a slight twinkling in his eyes.

"I have to keep my friends safe. Besides, it's _already_ helped us out!" I said indignantly. Damon just smiled at me.

They were outside walking to the train station when something hit me. "Wait, you can't come with us! What about school?" My hand flew up to cover my eyes. "I am _not_ letting you skip out of school, this is your future!"

"You sound like mom, or Jenna. Some matronly figure, very responsible, but it's alright, Elena. I'm already a few years ahead of everyone else. I can take a semester off for my long-lost sister." They continued their walk to the train station. It was a lot chillier here than Virginia. Here the clouds were dark with the promise of rain. It made the air smell good, and fresh. "Elena," I heard Jeremy start softly "Where have you _been _all this time? I know, I know, you told me what happened, but…why did you leave?" I looked up and saw the hurt in his eyes. The back of my throat burned, and I couldn't speak. He sighed. "Forget it, it doesn't matter. I was so mad at you for leaving, but now that you're here, I'm just happy you're back." He pulled me in for a hug, and even more tears fell.

All throughout the long, long train ride, I felt his eyes on me. He watched me with a strange mix of reserve and wonder. Like he was ecstatic I was back, but wasn't yet convinced that I wouldn't skip out again. It made me uncomfortable.

He was still staring at me like that when we got to the mansion. I led him in and told him he could pick any room someone wasn't already inhabiting, and that we could pick him up some clothes later if he felt like it, but he just stood there awkwardly looking at me. That was why I was relieved when Bonnie was lounging on the couch when I moved into the living room. It completely got his attention off me.

Bonnie got up to stand closer to him. She was wearing a tight tee-shirt and a medium length skirt, and she looked good. Jeremy evidently thought so, too. They were just looking into each other's face, and a tear fell down Bonnie's cheek. Out of nowhere, she slapped him, hard, across the face. He didn't even flinch. Jeremy grabbed her and pulled her in for a kiss. It looked like she went weak and girly in his arms, and his went around her more securely, holding her up. It looked like a cheesy romance cover. I got out of the living room before I had to see anything else between my brother and my best friend. It didn't matter how much I tried to tell myself that was gross, a smile wouldn't leave my face at the thought of two people I loved very much finding happiness together.


	10. Fellowship

**_A/N: So, this is a kind of dork chapter, and I am sorry to anyone who doesn't get it, but I had fun writing it._**

They were all in the living room, sitting or standing in what could only loosely be called a circle. Alaric leaned against the fireplace, Matt sat down on the floor leaning against the couch. Jeremy and Bonnie were sitting next to each other on the sofa. Tyler was sitting in a loveseat he'd pulled closer, with Caroline perching on one of the arm rests. Damon and Elena stood on opposite sides from each other, probably so they could easily look at each other while the conversation was going. His hands were crossed while hers were tucked in the back pockets of her jeans.

"So," Elena started, and looked down, "We're all finally together, and this is it. All the help we're going to get. We should talk about what we're going to do."

"Klaus ruined all our lives, and he's a monster." Damon added. "We are all in agreement, yes?" He didn't wait to make sure they all were; there was no doubt that they were. "Now we have to figure out how to kill him."

"I think we should learn his ways, his habits." Caroline suggested. "Then kill him when he'll least expects it."

"Habits? Like a guy like him will have a set schedule. On my to-do list:," Matt mocked in a high-pitched voice. "Kill, maim, kill, kill, maim again, ooh torture at 2:30…"

"Then you think of something, genius." Caroline snapped.

"Hey, all we're doing is brainstorming, all right? _No _ideas are stupid," Elena said, pointedly staring at Matt. "If you have an idea, say it, no matter how dumb you think it might be. That idea could be the one thing that saves our lives."

"I don't think we should stay around Klaus too long. Stopping to study his ways only gives him more time to figure out we're there. We need a stealth attack." Alaric suggested.

"But he has to be alone," Tyler said, "We don't have a chance if he's got a whole posse with him."

"So a little reconnaissance." Alaric amended.

"All that is great, but how do we actually kill him once we attack?" Bonnie pointed out.

"I still have the knife we used on Elijah," Damon supplied.

"And then we rip off his head, and burn both pieces of the body to ashes," Elena said venomously, "I don't care what kind of creature you are, no one reanimates from ashes."

"Alright, stealth, ashes, when do we _actually_ do all this?" Jeremy asked. "Is there a timetable we have to work with?"

"Not really," Damon said, "but soon. We can't have Klaus finding out about us before we actually do anything."

"How about next week we start with a few days of recon work, and then attack the following week?" Matt supplied helpfully. "Or is that too slow, too fast, what?"

"Sounds good to me," Damon said. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

Elena bit her lip. "We should have someone inconspicuous do the spying." She looked around. "No vampires."

"And he would definitely recognize Bonnie and Tyler." Damon said, ruling them out as well.

"It'll have to be me." Jeremy said heavily.

"I don't like it." Elena said immediately. "Maybe we could compel a few people to watch him for us? Ordinary people?"

"And get them killed?" Bonnie asked. "We can't do that."

"What if we got, like, child rapists or something?" Caroline offered. "No one would really care then. If they died, that is."

Bonnie grimaced. "Don't get me wrong, I don't like them as much as the next person, but it is really right for us to use them like that? They are people."

Matt looked at her. "If you call that kind of behavior human, Bonnie." Caroline seemed happy Matt agreed with her.

"We could compel the humans we get to help us to never think those bad thoughts again." Damon said thoughtfully. "Would that make you feel better about it, Bonnie?"

"That doesn't make it right!" Bonnie snapped. "I'm not some child to be appeased!"

"Look at it this way," Alaric instructed, "We can either risk Jeremy or a bunch of sick, old fucks."  
>Bonnie sighed, and her hand sought out Jeremy's hand where he sat next to her. "Fine." She finally said. She looked down and toyed with her necklace.<p>

"What kind of weapons will we get to use?" Tyler asked, excited.

"Well, other than the knife, I don't really see what else we'll need." Alaric added.

"You want us to go in completely unarmed?" Caroline asked in a high voice.

"You're a vampire, Care, you'll never be completely unarmed." Elena tried to sooth her.

"But she does have a point," Matt said. "I don't want to be unarmed either."

"_You_ won't be any where near the fight." Damon told him.

"It doesn't matter," Alaric said, "The kids are right, they have a right to defend themselves and make themselves feel safer. We can give them daggers dipped in essence of Vervain or something."

An insulted Caroline glared at him. "Hey, I know you're probably like, forty now, but none of us are kids any more, Alaric. No matter how old we look."

"I was agreeing with you!" He said, looking confused.

"Technically, you're all children compared to me." Damon put in helpfully. Elena smiled at all the indignant looks everyone shot him.

"Okay, so we have a timeline, a method of death, what else do we need?" Elena asked

"Well, where is all this going to happen?" Jeremy asked. "It's not like we can do it in the middle of Times Square."

"Damon can rent a warehouse, and we can lure him to it." Tyler decided.

"How?" Bonnie asked. "I doubt he'd fall for much."

"We need bait," Elena mused. "Someone he really hates." A grin spread across her face. "Me." Damon frowned at her. "Katherine." Elena said, changing the octaves, volume, and emotion in her voice. She really did sound like Katherine.

"No." Damon said sternly. "Absolutely not." He still remembered the first day he'd seen her and how empty she'd been. He was convinced Klaus's compulsion was the only reason she was still alive.

"Damon," She exclaimed, surprised, "You have to trust me." Elena met his eyes evenly and calmly. "I can do this." She said softly.

Damon hung his head, and didn't say anything.

"Are you sure you'll be able to run away and lead him to the warehouse?" Tyler asked doubtfully. "He's fast."

"I'll challenge him in a public pace where he won't attack, then I'll hop in car and drive off." Elena came up with the solution easily. "He won't be able to attack, but like you said, he's fast. He can keep up with a car." Tyler nodded in agreement.

"Are we missing anything?" Caroline asked.

Damon started thinking out loud. "We'll have to move our little operation to New York eventually. We can start tomorrow, maybe get a few rooms at a motel, try to fit in with a convention crowd."

"Maybe do a little shopping." Caroline suggested.

"No." Alaric said shortly. "Maybe afterwards, but we can't risk any of Klaus's people seeing us and giving him a heads up."

Caroline and Bonnie let out a collective sigh.

"We'll deal with everything else as it comes up, but for now, we have a plan. Everyone's okay with it, and understands it?" Damon looked into each of their eyes. "Good. It's all official-like."

Matt piped up. "I feel like we should all be putting our hands in the middle and do a group break down. With maybe 'kill Klaus' as the peppy words?"

"We really are like a fellowship, now." Caroline said happily.

Tyler looked surprised, "You're actually right."

"Hey!" She giggled. "I did pay a_ little _attention! Sometimes. It was kind of a boring movie."

"It was not!" Jeremy argued. "We are the fellowship…of the…uh, what's a cool name for us?"

"Nothing! Not if it's Lord of the Rings related." Caroline said pompously.

"There are only eight of us…" Alaric said quietly. "If Jenna were here, it would be nine." He sighed. "Klaus really needs to die."

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about." Elena admitted.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't! I'm really going to have to fix that."

With that, the meeting unofficially dispersed. They argued with each other about pop culture things Elena was completely unfamiliar with. She just listened without joining in. After a few minutes of heated debate between the Lord of the Rings group (Jeremy, Damon, and Tyler) and the Harry Potter faction (Alaric, Caroline, and Matt), Bonnie sidled up to Elena. "I'm not much for all this movie stuff, either." She took off her necklace and toyed with it. "I have this feeling, and—" She took a deep breath.

"Bonnie what is it?" Elena asked, concerned, and wondering what she could do to fix it.

"Look, I'm pretty sure I'm going to die." She saw Elena's horrified look and held up her hand before she could speak. "I don't feel whole without my powers, and I don't think I can live like that for much longer. I think I'm going to die in the big battle." She smiled, and Elena was scared speechless. "I'm okay with that, especially if my death can give someone else a few pivotal seconds. It will have meant something."

"No, Bonnie, I wont let that happen. I—"

Bonnie cut Elena off. "I don't have any powers, it's not like it was a vision I had, just a feeling." Elena swallowed, because she knew how powerful intuitive feelings could be. "Anyway, that's not my point. My point is that I have this feeling that you're supposed to keep this safe." She handed Elena her necklace. "I know only you can keep it safe. Please, Elena? It has all of my ancestors' powers in it, and mine. Please keep it safe." Her serious dark eyes looked up into Elena's.

Elena nodded mutely and clasped it around her neck. "I'll never take it off." She promised. "But you're an idiot if you think I'm going to let you die. I'll give it back to you when this is over and Klaus is dead." She caressed the beautiful, blood red stone.

Bonnie laughed and smiled. "I love you, bestie," she said lightly, but the emotion was there.

"Love you, too, Bonbon." Elena joked, but she meant it, too.

"Don't ever call me that again." Bonnie said, and both girls laughed.

"Sorry to interrupt this nice girly bonding moment, but it's time to get ready to kill Klaus." Damon said, coming to stand in front of them. "_After_ we watch Lord of the Rings."


	11. The Best Laid Plans

_**A/N: It is as I feared, I have become quite sick myself. But I am determined to update this story, so that is what I will do! Anyway thanks to TheSilentType1988 for reviewing! I must admit, I took devilish pleasure in writing this chapter!**_

Elena was sitting at the motel window, in one of the two rooms all eight friends had shared between them. To say it was an uncomfortably tight fit was an understatement. The only reason she and Damon were alone now was because everyone else had already left to prepare the warehouse Damon rented. They'd definitely taken advantage of the situation, but that only lasted a couple hours. Now Elena was sitting the window, peeking out the curtains, and thinking about her upcoming task.

Damon pulled on a shirt and came over to sit next to her. "You must be pretty nervous." He put his arm around her. "But I know you will be amazing, and we will kick Klaus' ass." He pulled her closer in a hug and kissed her forehead.

Elena smiled at his penchant for cuddling. The man couldn't seem to go without it. "I'm not nervous," She said, smiling up at him emptily.

He raised his eyebrows. "Then you must be hungry." She pulled away with a groan. "You haven't bitten me in a while, Elena, and unless you're paying midnight visits to Matt-which for his sake I sincerely hope not—you haven't fed in a while."

"I haven't been hungry." She tried to walk to the bed where he'd lain out her clothes, but he kept a tight grip on her hand. She sighed, and didn't even try to pull away.

"You can't keep starving yourself." Damon stood and pushed her back down into her chair. "Especially now. You're facing Klaus in an hour for fuck's sake! You think I'm going to let you go into that battle when you're already half dead?" But it was rhetorical and he wasn't looking for an answer as he stormed over to the cooler he'd kept in their room for her, him, and Caroline. He stalked back to her with a blood packet in hand. "So, what's it going to be, fresh gourmet or pre-packaged?" He held out both hands, one with his wrist turned up for her mouth and the other offering a blood bag.

Elena scowled and tugged his arm roughly towards her. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Ow." Damon said mildly at the slight pain in his wrist. For some reason he didn't quite feel the stinging rush of pain and the usual perverse pleasure. He looked down and saw that two slim fangs had slid into his wrist, instead of the usual full set of teeth Elena normally bit him with. "Aww, just for me?" He asked, grinning. She just glared as she sucked delicately at his vein. His grin only got wider, and then he bit into the packaged shit he still had in his hand.

She finished quickly, and Damon briefly thought about hassling her to take more, but he finally decided not to add to her stress. She moved over to the bed and started pulling on her clothes. "You know what you're supposed to do?"

"No, maybe we should go over it another hundred times, then maybe I'll be ready." She said sarcastically.

"Alright, good." He gave her one last peck on the mouth and moved over to the door. "See you later." He opened it, but paused after taking a step. He looked back at her with an odd expression and looked like he didn't know what to say.

"I love you too," She said, guessing what he was feeling, because she felt it, too. Fear for each other, excitement for the day they'd both been waiting a while for, and love mixing and messing with everything else. He turned away, but not before she saw the small smile on his lips.

000000

Elena

I waited at a small coffee shop, paying intense attention to everyone that walked pass. Damon's car was parked a block away.

We'd learned a lot of useful information from the pedophiles. For one, Klaus was staying in some posh apartment in one of the nicer suburbs, but walked downtown every day in order to be where all the parties were going on. He took the same way every day, too, and right now I was sitting directly in his path, and hoping I'll spot him before he sees me. This little walk was the only thing he did alone, before that he was in his lush apartment with all his minions, and after he was always at some party, where he was likely hanging with a bunch of other 'friends'. I used that term loosely, because I wasn't sure whether a guy like Klaus had anything close to friends at all.

Finally, I spotted him. I stood in his line of vision a safe amount of space away. I was pretending to look at a magazine stand. I felt the moment his eyes spotted me, and turned around. I let him see my expression of pure shock and terror. Klaus looked to the left, and right, eyeing all the people between us. He wouldn't risk it. He started to speak, and I heard him perfectly, though we must have been a bock away from each other. "Really, Elena, did you think I wouldn't notice a bunch of old men following me around? Don't worry, I let most of them live, they seemed like good guys." His grin stretched from ear to ear, he knew they were anything but good guys.

I gave him a smirk of my own in return, and let all the shock run out of my expression. "Why does that not surprise me?" I said, adding a deep, huskiness to my voice in the sexy way Katherine liked to talk.

For the first time I saw him look confused. "Come here." He commanded.

My smile got bigger and I turned from him, "Not a chance." I ran with vampire speed to my car, and subsequently sped off again once I got there. He was close behind, but making sure no humans saw him slowed him a bit. I was kind of saying 'screw it' on that front, this issue was more important than a bunch of humans who would probably just chalk it up to too much espresso anyway. However, I didn't want to get pulled over by the police, so I was being careful with the car, which meant driving like every other cabbie and New Yorker. Actually, that meant I was driving like a maniac. I made it to the warehouse quicker than even I had hoped.

They closed the doors behind me once I screeched to a halt inside the building. I got out quickly, and Damon handed me a sword. He had the knife. Jeremy had one of Alaric's crossbows and a short sword tucked into a belt at his waist. I would never tell him, but he looked a little goofy. Alaric stood next to him with a cross bow of his own. I think Damon once told me they had special ammunition, but I couldn't remember what. They stood behinds us, as we were the front lines.

The warehouse wasn't as big as I'd pictured it. It was only about as big as half a football field. It was as empty as one too, emptier if you counted the grass. The ceiling was very high, with wooden rafters to help keep the building up. It was completely empty of any boxes or crates that might have hindered the fight. There were only two entrances, and we were about to stand in front of one of them to block it.

I grinned once we were all in position. "She handles like a dream," I told Damon, of his red Ferrari.

"Better not have scratched her. I'd have to spank you." He grinned.

"Ooh." I said, leaning in close. "Now I'm tempted to go run into a fire hydrant or something."

"Guys!" Jeremy yelled out a warning, making us focus on the task at hand.

Klaus leapt in through one of the windows. He shook his hair out and ran his hand through it like a model. My lip curled in distaste.

"Katherine." Klaus frowned. "I'd have thought you were long gone, and now you're working with them?" He shook his head and tsked. "The girl I knew was much smarter than that."

I didn't waste any breathe with a reply, I just held up my sword in front of me. He crouched down low, and I saw his hands turn into claws. His fangs came out, longer and sharper than any I'd ever seen, not to mention he had about forty. His eyes glowed an odd orange color. "Well, my pretties. Today you'll all die," His voice was high-pitched, like he was talking to a bunch of third-graders.

He moved forward and converged on Damon, slashing him across the face with his claws, but Damon moved back before they went too deep. I slashed at Klaus while his attention was on Damon. He roared and retreated, taking in his slashed coat. "I actually liked this jacket." Klaus hit Damon across the head and he went flying. "A lot." He aimed a roundhouse kick at me and knocked my sword from my hands.

That was when Caroline and Tyler came in through the opposite door and started stalking towards Klaus. She'd opted for no weapon, because she hadn't known how to use a sword, or a crossbow. Her own teeth and hands and feet, now those she could use just fine. Tyler was next to her, and hadn't shared her opinion. He had a stake in one hand and knife in the other.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at them, but it wasn't until Bonnie walked in that true fear showed in his eyes. He didn't know she was powerless. He laughed and started backing up. He gave a high-pitched whistle, so loud it busted a window, and made me wince. Some of the others actually held their ears. "You're all fools." He spat.

We started to converge on him while he continued to back away from us all. Caroline, Tyler, and Alaric grabbed him and tried to hold him steady. Damon lifted the stake above his head—

The sound of shattering glass drew all our attention upward. Something had broken another one of the windows, and it wasn't Klaus. Klaus took the moment of distraction to free himself. He was in the perfect position to run for the exits, but he didn't run just yet. Instead, he stopped and surveyed us with a nasty smile. "I told you so."

Something massive dropped from the rafters. It was covered in splotchy patches of brown fur, with skin showing in other places, and in the vague shape of a man. I drew in a quick breath. The face was almost nonexistent, but I saw that its eyes were black. Its fangs were even more imposing than Klaus' had been, especially now that Klaus seemed to have reverted back to his former self. He was smoothing over his ripped clothing when he spoke. "Magnificent, isn't he?"

"What is it," I said, unable to keep my voice from shaking.

"It?" Klaus scoffed. "_It _is my brother." He growled at them, but his growl had nothing on the creature. All it was doing was staring at them with irrational eyes, and growling and snarling uncontrollably, like a mad dog. It was even drooling.

"Do you know how many experiments it took to make another like me?" Klaus asked. "Every one of my test subjects kept _dying._ It wasn't until recently I found out that it had to be someone with my blood, like my brother. I woke him up just to make him like me. It worked, but as it turns out," he smiled, and ran his hands down his torso, "there's nothing _quite _compares to me."

"That's sick," Alaric spat out. "To your own brother."

"Sick?" Klaus asked, his eyes glittering dangerously. "Sick? I did this because I love him. He was always my favorite you see. Now we are the same, of course, our versions of hacking into a computer are probably different!" He cackled like a maniac. He shook his head sadly. "Poor Elijah didn't take to the change real well. And he seems to be stuck in that form. Not really like me at all." He paused. "Not as good as me, either, but that's a good thing in and of itself." He patted the back of the—of Elijah's—head. It growled and snapped at Klaus' hand. Klaus sucked his cheeks in angrily. "I still haven't found quite the right spell or witch to fix him of this behavior," he paused, "Bad! Very bad, Elijah," he shook his finger at the thing before he focused back on us, "they seem to only make him worse," he said, almost apologetically. "He writhes on the floor for days when my witches work on him." He gave the Elijah-monster a considering look. "But at least he still follows basic orders." Klaus turned back to them and gave an elaborate bow. "Tootles!" He said cheerfully as he turned his back on them. And then, "Attack!"

The monster raised its head and stared into my eyes. I felt my chest constrict painfully. Then it raised its two arms, and I noticed something I hadn't before. It was armed with two long, razor-sharp swords. I became hyper aware of my friends. Of Matt, waiting in the ally to assist anyone wounded. Of Bonnie, near paralyzed by her own fear, and without any weapon or strength. Of Tyler, and Caroline, who exchanged loving looks before taking positions near it and bracing themselves. Of Alaric and Jeremy, who were no longer behind me, but moving around me to get better shots at it with their bows. Of Damon, who took up a stance next to me, and held his knife at the ready, looking for an opening. I was the only one not ready.

And then it attacked.

It was a mad blaze of fur and steel. The creature moved as fast as any vampire, and seemed more than capable of taking care of all of us at once. Its swords clanged and sang as they made contact with other weapons, other swords, and he even swiped the arrows out of the air before they hit him. I think his sword even made contact with mine a few times, though I couldn't remember picking it up or defending myself. I was too busy worrying about all of my friends. _Was that blow Caroline took serious?, Is Jeremy out of ammo already?, Why can't I see Damon?, _and on and on my thoughts raced as we all battled.

All of a sudden Damon dropped from one of the rafters on the ceiling and tried to get Elijah's heart with the ashen dagger. The thing didn't even pause as it flung Damon off him using Damon's own momentum. I attacked, enraged, and got a deep gash to its shoulder, but it flung me off as if it didn't feel anything. I flew across the warehouse and slammed into its wooden walls so hard I heard the wood splinter.

I moaned and tried to get up, but fell back down. "Elena!" Damon screamed. I lifted my head, the only thing I could move, just in time to see him turn towards me, away from Elijah, distracted. I tried to call out, to do anything, but couldn't. Blood dripped into my eyes from somewhere on my head, but I saw it clearly when two sharp swords pierced through Damon's back and appeared on the other side of his chest. He was still looking at me, but surprise filled his face. When he fell, so did my head, and all I saw was black.

I could have been out for a few minutes, or maybe only a few seconds, but when I could see again the sight was not pretty. Alaric was on the ground, one of his own arrows pierced through his stomach. Matt was working on him frantically, completely ignoring the monster that did it who was battling someone else right behind him. So brave.

Bonnie was on her knees on the floor, panicked, she was whispering something—a spell, or a prayer?—that was all she knew how to do and she didn't have any weapons. We hadn't given her any in case Klaus made the connection that if she needed a sword or something, that her powers must not be that great. She was so scared now, shaking, and tears pouring down her face. I dragged myself to my feet and staggered closer to her. I dropped my sword at her feet. I guess I still hadn't dropped it. "For protection." I croaked in a voice that didn't sound like my own. I staggered closer to the main fight, ignoring Bonnie's pleas to stay back.

Blood dripped on me from the ceiling, and I saw Damon, laying there as he clutched onto one of the beams. My guess was that Elijah had thrown him, and instead of letting himself come back down, he'd held on. He also held the knife tight in one hand, and he was watching the battle closely. Still looking for that opening.

Tyler was on the ground and had somehow managed to get a hold of one the beast's own swords, and he was desperately trying to fend it off as he held Caroline close to him with his right arm and tried to shield her with his body. There was a gash across one of his eyes, but he seemed to see okay as he blocked every blow of Elijah's sword, but he was getting slower, while Elijah wasn't, and one blow got through to hit the top of his arm. He cried out before hitting the sword away with his own. Caroline wasn't moving, and absolutely sopping with blood.

I tried to stagger closer—I had to do something—but I was slow. I watched with fear as my brother charged at the creature, but he could barely hold the heavy sword up! I screamed, and tried to make my legs move faster, but could only hobble. I saw Jeremy's sword lung into Elijah's back, and come out through his front. The creature paused and howled in pain. It was no doubt the best blow anyone had been able to deal it, but that thought was little consolation, I thought, when the thing turned around, and snapped my brother's neck like a twig.

Tyler shoved his sword through one of the creature's calves, but when it tried to face him, it fell onto one knee. All of a sudden, I knew what I had to do. It was that feeling I'd gotten every time I'd tried to kill myself, and then when Damon came into my life. It hadn't been Damon I was waiting for, it had been this moment. I knew what to do.

The distractions had given me just the time I needed to get close and lunge at Elijah. I landed with my hands around his neck, nails and fingers desperately trying to do their worst. Elijah's sword was too hard to maneuver at this close range, and was rendered almost useless. He tried to get me off of him with his free hand, but I held on with all my strength.

All of a sudden, he stopped struggling to push me away. Instead, I saw his hand rise and his nails lengthen as he aimed for my chest. From the corner of my eye, I saw Damon jump from the rafters, but I knew he would be too late. I desperately tried to dig my nails into Elijah's neck to delay the inevitable. I felt Elijah's skin give way under my nails just as his nails penetrated _my_ skin. Waves of pain radiated throughout my entire body as I felt his hand slide in deeper and his fingers close around my heart. My own fingers had dug into his neck all the way to my knuckles. I felt the straining sensation, heard the sickening suction noise as he pried my heart, with its weak, vein attachments, out through my ribcage. With the last of my strength I latched onto his spine, and jerked towards me as hard as I could, the skin and muscle and bone tough, but his head ripping from his body all the same.

I felt my skin burn where the necklace rested over where my heart should be. It felt like I was on fire, spreading to every root of hair, and every toe. I was being burned alive, until finally, it just stopped. Everything stopped.


	12. Aftermath

Damon sunk to his knees at her body. He stroked her hair. A tear fell as he took in the gaping hole in her chest. He felt like grabbing her heart from where it fell, a few feet away, and shoving it back inside her body. As if that would make a difference. How many times had he himself ripped someone's still-beating heart from their chests'? There was no coming back from that.

Bonnie came closer to Elena's body, dragging a sword behind her. When she took in Elena she sobbed. "No!" Bonnie buried her face against Elena's motionless knee.

Matt turned for the first time after tying up the makeshift bandage he'd finished on Alaric's midsection. He saw Elena lying on the floor, and his legs gave out. He fell, still staring at her, knowing there was nothing he could do. Behind him, Alaric started to come to.

Tyler held Caroline close and avoided looking at Elena. He kissed the top of his wife's head, but she wasn't moving, and at this time he was covered in her blood.

Matt took in the blood and struggled to his feet. "Is she okay?" He asked Tyler, walking closer to them, but giving Elena's body a wide berth.

Tyler shook his head, but before Matt could examine Caroline, she woke up screaming. She struggled against Tyler's grip. "My arm!" She screamed. "Oh my god, my arm!"

Matt followed her gaze to where her arm rested, a few feet away from her body. Matt fought the urge to puke. Caroline's arm had been severed at the shoulder, and it was sitting in a bloody pool near Elijah's head. He could still see the pink sleeve of her shirt attached to it.

"Shh, Caroline, it'll be okay." Tyler had to keep a death grip on her to keep her from scrambling to go get it. Matt realized Tyler was holding the spot where her arm should have been, and if she managed to get away, she would likely start to bleed heavily. Tyler was having trouble keeping his grip; her body was slippery with blood.

"Let go of me!" She growled, before turning in Tyler's arms and biting him ferociously in the neck.

He yelled, "Caroline!" but didn't try to fight her. She bit down deeper and he cried out before hitting her in the back of the head with the butt of the sword. She sagged against him once more, out cold. Matt hurried over to take her from Tyler and wrap up her arm tightly.

Matt heard Alaric groan and sit up. "Don't get up!" He yelled out, but he was busy with Caroline, and Alaric didn't mind his words of warning. He propped himself up on his arms, and took in the scene. "You'll break your stitches if you move now." Matt cautioned.

"It's fine." Alaric groaned. He slowly got up, and held his side as the pain flushed through him. There was only a moment of sadness and grief on his face for Elena before it was replaced with something hard and emotionless. "We have to clean up this place. Damon only rented it for a week, and that week is about to be up." He looked around and assessed the damage, including the broken windows in his gaze.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Matt, you get Caroline and Jeremy in a car and back to the hotel." Matt nodded and picked up Caroline. "But she can't be seen. She's covered in blood…put her in the trunk Matt."

Tyler stood up in a flash, and was next matt even quicker. "Don't even try it." He growled and reached for Caroline as if he would pluck her from Matt's very arms.

"Tyler!" Alaric snapped. "Se _can't_ be seen. Relax, Matt will put her in my Lincoln, the trunk is spacious. She'll be fine." He nodded at Matt to continue, and he did. Both cars were inside the warehouse, so Matt didn't have to worry about being seen carrying her and putting her in a trunk. It would be a different story once they got to the motel. He'd have to be really careful no one would see him.

When he came back for Jeremy, Alaric gave him another order. "Throw some of the blood bags from the cooler in the Ferrari to the trunk with Caroline in case she wakes up on the drive and decides she's hungry." Matt nodded and lifted Jeremy's body up with relative ease. He started to walk back to the car when Alaric stopped him again. "Oh, and Matt?" He paused. "I don't know how that ring works, but right now he's just a guy with a broken neck. Be careful."

Matt nodded once more and was off. He arranged Jeremy carefully in the seat, and hoped it would just look like Jeremy had fallen asleep on a long car ride. Matt looked down and saw his clothes were covered in blood from where he'd patched up Alaric and carried Caroline. That didn't matter, he'd brought an extra pair of scrubs. Who said being the prepared Boy Scout was lame? He changed quickly and was on the road in a matter of a couple minutes.

Back in the warehouse, Alaric was pacing. Or, would have been, if every step he took didn't bring him pain. "How do we get rid of the bodies?" He asked, but to himself, correctly assuming no one else would answer.

Damon was still on his knees staring at her body. He hadn't moved since it'd happened. Bonnie wanted to reach out to him, maybe hug him, but she couldn't. It was her fault Elena was dead. Tears streamed down Bonnie' face as she though about how Elena had given her her only weapon, and how Bonnie had just sat there whimpering worthlessly.

"Fuck!" Tyler shouted, bringing her attention outward once more. Tyler grabbed Caroline's arm. "Matt forgot her arm!" He looked around wildly and started for the only other car left.

"Hey!" Alaric yelled at him.

"She's not going to lose her arm, Alaric! I don't care if I have to superglue it!" He yelled without turning around.

But Alaric didn't argue, he just said, "Bring back some garbage bags, okay? Heavy duty." Tyler waved Caroline's arm in acknowledgement. Bonnie had to fight down a wave of nausea. "And cleaning supplies!" Alaric yelled again.

Alaric told Bonnie that the only thing they could do before they got the garbage bags was to cut up Elijah's body. "I can't do that." Bonnie said instantly as Alaric put the sword in her hand.

"We have to," Alaric insisted, "it's the best way to dispose of the body. Then we'll dump it somewhere." He touched his side. "Trust me, I don't like to make you do this, but I can't right now. It would break my stitches."

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "Can't someone else…?" Se looked down at Damon, who was still on his knees, staring at Elena. Bonnie could tell what was going through his head. She sank to her knees next to him. "Damon?" She tried, but he was still looking at Elena. She put her hand gently at his neck and pulled his head to face her. He moved reluctantly, and when his eyes met hers, she almost wished she hadn't disturbed him. Those eyes and that pain would haunt her forever. She felt a wave of shame at what she was about to ask him, but bravely continued. "Damon, please, I can't cut him up. I can't do it."

He looked slowly from her face to where Elijah lay. He picked up the sword wordlessly and walked over to Elijah. Without warning, he brought the sword down hard across the body's torso. Bonnie gave an involuntary scream at the blood and sudden violence. She watched as Damon came down hard with the sword and hacked into the body with an almost feverous glee.

She had to look at Elena instead, as the sight was making her sick. So were the squishing and slicing sounds, but Bonnie forgot about that as she looked down at Elena.

The necklace she'd given to Elena to keep it safe looked almost burned into Elena's flesh. Bonnie reached down hesitantly and peeled it from Elena's neck, some bits of melted skin sticking to it. When Bonnie finally got it all the way off, she felt a rush of power. She sat there, on her hands and knees as her breathing picked up. Some part of her that had been missing and returned. She had her powers again. She could just feel it. A day late and a dollar short.

Alaric noticed her almost hyperventilating and gave her a concerned look. "Damon, stop." He said, probably figuring the hacking of someone's flesh was what was causing it.

"Not that that isn't gross enough, but it wasn't him." Bonnie told Alaric. Even so, Damon stopped and looked at Bonnie. She looked at the mess he'd made and thought she might vomit. Why hadn't Alaric told him to stop earlier? It looked like someone had just dumped two-hundred pounds of raw and bloody hamburger meat onto the floor where Elijah's body used to be. With some bits of fur and skin and bone thrown in to be precise.

Damon just looked at her. "Had to make sure he wouldn't come back." He said simply.

"It's not you," she told him. "When I got the necklace from-from her neck, my powers came back. I don't know how, but they did. And my ancestors' powers aren't inside of it anymore. I don't know where they went, they're not in me, though." She tried not to sound too excited, but she was. She felt terrible that she felt so happy when Elena just died, but her powers were actually _back!_ She never thought she'd feel them inside of her again, never even thought she would live to see thirty-two, and now…she tried to pace herself. There was plenty of time to bask at a time where her best friend had _not_ just died.

Alaric looked considering, but Damon just sunk back to his knees at Elena's side. His face was empty, but I could hear his words. "She's already decaying. I can see it." Bonnie had to look away from the hollow expression on his face. She did see him reach for something behind him. He turned back around to the body and saw him shove something against the hole in Elena's chest. Bonnie felt faint when she realized it was Elena's heart. "That's where it belongs," Damon muttered to himself, his eyes vacant.

Bonnie was saved from thinking about his actions with the return of Tyler. He came to them with a shopping bag of supplies. It was filled with heavy duty garbage bags, bleach, gloves, industrial scrubbers, and god knows what else.

Together, they cleared the floor of viscera and glass, having enough to fill two big garbage bags. Then they set to work cleaning and removing all the weapons and arrows that seemed to be scattered throughout the warehouse. They tried not to think about the battle as they dealt with the weapons, but it was hard not to. Finally, in what was Bonnie's least favorite part, they scrubbed the floor clean of all the blood and remains. And you really have to scrub to get blood out, even if the floor is concrete.

When they were done, Alaric looked up and sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do about the windows though. How will we explain them?"  
>Bonnie looked up too. "I think I can fix that." She took a deep breath and focused on the windows. For a second, nothing happened, and she thought her returned powers was a fluke, but then the jagged edges of glass that clung to the window pane seemed to stretch and grow until they converged into one another and melded seamlessly into each other. The windows looked just like before when she finished. She collapsed to the newly cleaned floor and had to take a few deep breaths. "I forgot how much that drains me." She said, huffing.<p>

"We're done," Alaric in a voice he hadn't used all evening, one that was tentative and unsure. Bonnie followed his gaze to where Damon sat, frozen like a statue in his vigil over Elena's body. He hadn't helped cleaned or anything, just watched Elena.

Bonnie saw what the problem was. They were done with everything else, and the only thing left to…deal with was her body. None of them knew how to approach the subject with Damon. "Damon," Bonnie whispered as she kneeled next to him, her voice breaking, "We have to get out of here. And Elena's body can't stay here."

"No," He said clearly, and not in a whisper. "That won't happen to her," he said, looking at the garbage bags. "I'll take care of her." He didn't meet anyone's eyes as he delicately put his arms under her and lifted her up. "I'll take care of her," he said once more, and was out of the door faster than any of us could really track.


	13. Damon's Death

He shouldn't have buried her. That was all Damon could think as he sipped-no, gulped—whisky and vodka and Jack and whatever the hell else was in his liquor collection straight from their bottles. It wasn't what his body needed, not after a fight like that, but he didn't give a bleeding fuck. He shouldn't have buried her.

Granted, he'd done it as loving as possible-no, that was a joke. Love didn't exist, not anymore. It _couldn't_ exist if Elena was gone. It just couldn't.

Damon just wanted to _see _her again. Even if all he saw was her decaying corpse. He wished he'd just fallen into that grave he dug for her right alongside her. This was pointless. He knew he wasn't going to live much longer, not without her.

He was already weak and starving, it wouldn't be too hard to finish himself off. He wished he could just slowly drift away, but unfortunately, it took an eternity for a vampire to literally starve to death. And although she'd only been dead for a day, it already felt like an eternity to him.

He felt a flash of rage, and for the first time in a long time he had the urge to kill. To rip the throat from someone innocent and unsuspecting and drain them dry. He'd done it before, and the thought of doing so again was alluring. He remembered the emptiness he'd felt when he'd done it before. How you don't feel anything except power and control. You don't even care that something is dead, they don't matter, and all you remember is the feel of ending their life so that you can continue yours. He wanted that emptiness instead of this pain. He wanted that simple knowledge of power, and not this all consuming confusion. He wanted to kill again. It used to be all that kept him going through the eternity he'd lived…

…but just as quickly as the anger rose, it vanished. The prospect of a violent feeding held nothing for him anymore. Nothing could ever dispel the memory of Elena, or make things better now that she was gone.

He would end it now, he had no other choice. He honestly wasn't sure what had held him back. He didn't know why he hadn't ripped out his own heart the moment he saw hers on the floor. Was it weakness? Was he mentally or even physically incapable of ending his own life? No, he didn't think it was that. Something had held him back, but it wasn't strong enough to keep him in a world she didn't exist in.

Nothing could keep him from getting back to her. Not the thought of revenge on Klaus. Not the thought of blood, or alcohol, or anything he used to love. He'd be damned if he let some fucked-up feeling from nowhere keep him from her. He didn't even know what the feeling was, for Christ sakes'. His will was stronger than anything that tried to keep him and Elena apart. He knew that come tomorrow he would be dead.

He looked at the wooden coffee table that had been in the Salvatore mansion for generations. Damon tore one slim wooden leg off. The table toppled over, unbalanced, and glass shattered as his booze bottles hit the floor. He didn't pay them any attention. They had all been empty anyway.

He held the stake to his heart.

"Damon?" He heard her voice and let out a choked gasp. His eyes opened eagerly.

She smiled at him and everything eased. She came instantly into his outstretched arms. He held her close, and tears of joy poured from his mind. He hadn't been very fond of tears as of late, but this kind was nice. "I'm so happy to have you again." Damon whispered into her ear, kissing it after. "Dying didn't even hurt. You didn't feel anything either when you went, right?" He wouldn't be able to stand it if he'd gotten the easy death and she the painful one.

She looked confused. "It hurt a lot." She said, and Damon's jaw clenched. "I'm sorry," she said, caressing his face. She ran her hand over the sharp lines of his cheek bone and down his cheek to his jaw.

He didn't know why she'd be sorry, it was hardly her fault. But if he'd intended on asking why, he forgot when her grip on his face tightened and she pulled him in for a kiss. He leaned into her eagerly, and kissed her passionately. It was wet, and sloppy, almost as if he were drunk. But why would he still be drunk if he were dead?

All previous thoughts were forgotten, though, as she pulled back and Damon saw her face. "You're an angel." He exclaimed, breathless. How could she have been anything else? She was beautiful, amazing, wondrous. He felt the rise and fall of her chest as he crushed her warm body against him. Her eyes were glittering with love and excitement. Her lips curled into a smile so genuine it immediately called up a smile in return. They were plump and swollen with his kiss, and her cheeks were flushed with pale pink.

Just as he thought he'd never been happier, even when they were alive and together, the burning started. He cried out, never having felt such pain before. He was falling from Elena's arms, even though she never let him go. "Elena!" He sobbed desperately. It was too much to have her back only so he could be pulled away again. _No!_ He tried to scream, but he had no voice. He tried to clutch at her, but he had no strength. The fire that had started at his heart spread to his limbs and his throat. Damon's eyes tried to focus on her as the edges of his vision went black, and the fire started to consume him. His insides were melting away, until nothing was left but a shell. Even his tears felt like they were boiling.

He was going to hell. He didn't know why he hadn't expected it. He wasn't a good person. He decided hell was worth that one last moment with Elena, and the feel of her lips against his.

He looked at her now. She just stared at him calmly as she lovingly cradled his head. "It'll be okay." She whispered.

_How?_ He wanted to ask, but couldn't. In the last seconds, when the fire grew the worst and most painful, he noticed with some confusion the dirt that was in clumps in Elena's hair, and how her flushed cheeks were dirty, too. Then he didn't notice anything as his eyes were consumed with the burning flame, and then his thoughts, too.

_**A/N: So, I just realized that this is my third-most reviewed story, which is actually pretty cool, so I'm not so grumpy about that anymore. I have a lot of school work to contend with, but I promise this story will be complete before the new season starts!**_


	14. Heavy in Your Arms

**A/N: Okay, Pokinmju, thanks for another awesome and thoughtful review. BadBoysAreBest you just made. My. Life. Thank you! I had a mini heart-attack when I saw you reviewed so much. This particular chapter was inspired by the Florence and the Machine song of the same name.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Damon woke up gasping. His throat felt swollen and inflamed, like he was having an allergic reaction to oxygen. He tried to claw at it as he desperately tried to inhale. What was happening to him? He felt too warm, and dizzy. Especially when he tried to sit up. What was he doing on the living room floor? He fell back down and let his eyes close of their own will. He was too tired to think at the moment.<p>

"You're up," a sweet voice said, and a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

His eyes flew open, again of their own accord. Just hearing her voice made the ache in his head go away. "Elena," he breathed her name like a prayer. He tried to sit up so his face was level with hers and his muscles burned in protest. "You're right," he groaned. "Dying does hurt." His voice was scratchy, and it hurt to talk. His hand moved to touch her cheek, and he forgot any pain he still had. He _hadn't_ gone to Hell after all, because here was his angel. She was wearing a pristine white dress. He grinned. Man, what a cliché, he should have known angels dressed like this.

"You didn't die, well, you did, but not really." Elena stuttered, and Damon just wanted to tell her to shut up and kiss him, but his throat still hurt, so he decided to just move in and kiss her. She laughed and pushed him back. He was surprised when he fell. Her worried face appeared above his, so he took advantage and brought her even closer for another kiss.

Elena lost herself for the moment in the feel of his lips as they moved across hers, but she pulled back when she remembered what she was supposed to tell him. "Stop, Damon, you're distracting me."

"I could be doing a whole lot of other things to you," he promised, pulling her in for another kiss.

She laughed at the outraged expression on his face when he found she could resist him easily. "Stop." She commanded, and the serious expression that overtook her face made Damon heed her warning. "I-I did something," she admitted, biting her lip. "I didn't know if this was what you wanted, but I just got caught up in the moment, and—" she sighed. She took his hand and placed it over her heart, holding it still when it wiggled in search of other things. "Feel," she told him, anxious.

"That's what I was trying to do," he admitted, but her glare shut him up. He let his hand go limp, and tried to avoid looking at the temptations that rested so close. He became too warm and uncomfortable again without her as a distraction, and he remembered how strange his throat still felt. He started to panic, but when he looked at her it eased.

She was looking at him with expectant eyes. "Well?" She asked.

"What?" He smiled when her look got confused. "What?" He asked again.

"My heart, can't you feel it beating? Yours is too." She said her words slowly.

Damon concentrated, and he did indeed feel her heart through the thin cotton dress. He moved his other hand to his throat, and the pulse he found there stunned him. He moved his hand away from his throat as if doing so would make it stop. His entire body throbbed in time to the beat of his heart. _I know this feeling._ He took a deep breath. _I know this feeling! _Vampires' hearts _did _beat, but only when they made the conscious effort, and Damon was trying very hard not to make that effort at all, but it made no difference. His heart was beating, all on its own.

He sat up for the third time. He faced Elena with wonder in his eyes. "I'm human," he told her, and he crushed her close. "This has to be heaven." He told her, shaking as he held her close. "Or a dream." She couldn't see his tears as she buried her face into his shoulder, but she knew they were there because they ran down her face as well.

"No," she told him.

He pulled back and held her at arms length while he regarded her with confusion. "Isn't this your dream, too? To finally be human? Elena, I have fantasized about this day since Stefan killed me." His blue eyes were shining, and he couldn't fight his smile. He pulled her closer in his arms. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't mean to be happy when you aren't, but I've _dreamed_ of this day, Elena." He rocked her.

"I-" She could hardly speak he held her so close. She finally wiggled herself free, and Damon let her go unhappily. "I wouldn't care if we were hippos!" She cried out, staring into his face with a disbelieving face. "As long as we're together I'm happy. I can't believe you'd think I was _mad _that I was human. I've regretted my decision to change since the day I woke up different!"

"Are you made at me?" He tried to grasp her arms, but she pulled away, looking at the carpet.

"Of course not," she said automatically. She picked up a shard of glass from the floor. "I only said no because I meant, no it's not heaven," She cut her own finger on the sharp glass. "Or a dream."

He grabbed her wrist and made her drop the glass before she hurt herself again. "This is life," She whispered, and he held her hand to his face, his eyes fixated on the drop of blood clinging to her finger.

He looked at her. "I can't smell it." He gently swiped at the pad of her finger with his rough tongue. He pulled away to look at her. "I don't feel anything." He told her, grinning. He hadn't found her blood delicious or invigorating.

"If we were in heaven," she reasoned, "would we be surrounded by broken glass and a broken table?" She cut his arm with another shard of glass. He drew a sharp intake of breath at the pain. "If it were a dream," she whispered, leaning in close. "Would that have hurt?" Her mouth hovered over his lips, and just when he though she was about to kiss him, she moved lower to lap up the blood on his arm, as if to make sure she didn't like it, too. She pushed him, and he leaned back against the floor.

She kissed him roughly as she slipped one leg over his waist. "Sorry. For hurting you," but Damon forgot the pain in his arm when she swooped down and claimed another kiss.

"We're human!" He exclaimed, and she busied herself unbuttoning his shirt, kissing a path down as she went. "The two who had least hope were given a second chance." His mind raced, and the possibilities made him smile, but his mind went blank when Elena pushed her pelvis into his.

She'd gotten his shirt open, but hadn't bothered to push it all the way off. She ran her hands over the enticing ridges in his stomach. She leaned down to kiss his nipples, and moved even lower to lick his abs. She bit him lightly, with no desire to break skin. She felt him gasp anyway, and she grinned. Her hands skated lower and worked the button on his jeans until it gave, and quickly pulled his zipper down. She lifted him out of his pants without bothering to push the jeans all the way off. She lightly kissed the head of his cock and moved back up his body. She settled over him and held him in her hands.

Damon's heart raced, and he was taking deep, heavy breaths. He felt his heart pump furiously as the blood raced to his cock and stayed there until he was painfully swollen and heavy with arousal. He watched her pull her white dress around her waist and out of the way to show him that everything below was bare. He growled when she toyed with him, just lightly moving his dick across her opening and around her clit and back down again. She only laughed, which made him grab her hips to still her so he could thrust up and push into her.

Elena's laughter died, and the joke was on her. He'd used her game to his advantage and waited until he was in position to spear perfectly into her. She gasped and fell forward little, her hands on his chest to steady herself. He held her down tighter and he slid even further in. Her nails dug into his chest as he continued to invade her. Finally he hilted, but it felt too unbearable for her to move.

"Yes," he moaned. "You feel so good." He let himself have a few small thrusts into her tight sheath before one hand drifted lower to circle her clit. His other hand moved to her breasts, where he tugged and pulled at her nipples. She gasped, and her pussy flooded. Her arousal ran down his shaft until it coated even his balls, but he held her still as he played with her tight little nub and her hard nipples. She came with a shout, and it was both painful and pleasurable for them both. He held her still as her muscles clenched at his wide invading width uselessly, and his eyes rolled back a little when her spasms made her impossibly tight.

He waited until she was over most of the aftershocks of her orgasm to move. When he did, Elena noticed with surprise that the stretch no longer felt unbearable, but imperative. She needed him to fill her _more_. He felt so good inside her. She braced herself on his chest so she could lift and drop her pelvis. He shouted, and she leaned down to kiss him. She continued to impale herself on top of him at a furious pace. Every once in a while his thrusts would come in tune perfectly with hers, and they would both meet mid-thrust. She loved the way his stomach rippled when that happened.

He started forcing his tongue into her mouth in time to his thrusts. She clenched around him involuntarily. His hands drifted restlessly over her back, then down to her butt. He squeezed her, and the movement arched her into him even harder. She felt him start to pulse inside her, felt his hands dig into the soft flesh of her back side, and felt his tongue still and hum. The combined sensations brought her over the edge once more just as he lost himself.

When both their breathing returned to semi-normal, Elena rolled off him and collapsed at his side. She was still shivering with pleasure.

He reached over mindlessly and clutched one thigh. He pulled it closer to him until one of her legs was draped over his waist. He slid one arm under her hips and pulled her until her body was curled into his side. He kept his arm around her as he sighed contentedly. She moved one arm to his chest. The hand that wasn't clutching her body close while coping a feel lay on top of the hand she'd placed over his heart.

"I'm glad this hasn't changed." She whispered.

"What hasn't changed?" He asked, looking at her with his brows drawn down.

She'd been talking about his love of cuddling, but she found his honest confusion adorable, and couldn't bring herself to tell him. "Anything," She whispered instead, which was also the truth. "You're still my world," she confided.

"I know," he said, smugly.

She poked him viciously in the side. "Ow," he laughed. "You already know you're my world, too."

_That's more like it, _she thought, snuggling her head right next to one perfect pec. For the first time in over a decade, Elena found herself almost falling asleep after sex not because she was pleasantly sated and content, but because she was _tired. _The act had actually made her sore, exhausted her body, and she was enjoying that fact.

"Did you have to crawl from your grave?" Damon asked her, quietly. He couldn't stop thinking about the dirt he remembered seeing on her_, was it last night?_

"Not exactly what a girl wants to talk about after sex." Elena said dryly. He just looked at her, with concern darkening those pretty eyes. She sighed. And nodded.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, his hand moving to cup her face. "Was it awful? Were you confused?"

"Nothing in my life was ever clearer to me than in that moment." She said seriously. He looked confused, so she elaborated. "I knew what had happened—everything—and what was going to happen next. I knew that I was dead, and then I wasn't." She looked into his eyes. "I think the necklace Bonnie gave me, the one the witches' power was in, somehow transferred to me and let me live again."

"It also gave you the power to make me human," Damon said.

"Yes," Elena said simply. "I think I could turn anyone who wasn't already human into a human." She looked at him cautiously. "I didn't mean to with you. I just wanted to kiss you—I think that's how it works, through a kiss—and then I did and you were dying. I knew what had happened, but I didn't mean to."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked, suspicious, but she averted her gaze. "Do you think I'm mad? You'd have to be an idiot to think that."

"It's just—" Elena started, but she was afraid of what he'd say. He gently shook her to get her to continue. "Well, now that we've had sex…like humans, and…I thought maybe—"

But he cut her off by yelling at her. "You think I would be mad because human sex isn't as good as vampire sex?" Damon's eyes nearly came out of their sockets as he stared at her like she was crazy. "Well, now I know you're not an idiot, you're _special_!"

"I didn't even say that, you did." She pointed out. "So you must think it."

He visibly tried to control his anger. "Sex as a vampire is great, Elena, and I've had a lot of time doing it to know that's the truth. It's amazing, with enhanced senses, you can do wonderful things, like feel every single goosebump on your lover's arm." His jaw slowly unclenched as he talked, and his hand ran up and down her bare arm, giving her goose bumps as well. "It can also be a distraction, with your nose picking up every single chemical and artificial ingredient in the shampoo she's used. With you, granted, I rarely got distracted, even as a vampire." He paused because he didn't know how to put into words what he wanted to say next. "As a human, everything is harder, more solid. More _real._ As great as sex with vampire abilities is, it doesn't hold a candle to giving everything you are when you're making love as a human. It's intense in a way I can't understand. It's overwhelming. Feeling you, the real weight of you, having something heavy moving against me. Working just as hard as I am, with all our strength put towards one goal, no holding back, hearts racing…" His eyes closed and he smiled. "I can't explain how this is the best feeling in the world."

"Did you just call me fat?" Elena asked.

His eyes flew open in surprise. "No!" He protested, but he narrowed his eyes when he saw that she was just fucking with him.

"I'm just kidding. That was beautiful," she told him. "And I know what you mean, so you don't have to explain it. I was there, too, remember?" She joked.

"How could I forget?" He asked, kissing her forehead.

She was just about to fall asleep again, when he spoke. She loved the cuddling, but she was going to have to break him of this pillow talk. "We have to tell your friends." He told her.

She sighed. "Can it wait?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Of course, I only meant soon. They think you're dead." He yawned. "Besides, they _do _sort of live here now, thanks to you. And they so thoughtfully gave me a few days to mourn alone in my drunken misery, but knowing your annoying friends, they'll probably be showing up soon."

Elena was just about to tell him they were _his _annoying friends, too. After all, he was no longer a cool, aloof vampire, when an earsplitting shriek nearly broke her poor, human ears in two.

She looked up and saw Bonnie rushing towards her. Damon furiously tried to get his pants back up and zipped. Bonnie kneeled on the floor next to where they were laying, heedless of the broken glass bottles that were still there. She drew Elena up in a hug, and was crying, asking how it was possible.

The others followed Bonnie into the parlor. Matt, Jeremy, Alaric, Tyler and Caroline all stood staring at her with disbelief.

Matt was the first to move. He came closer, but not to kneel. Instead, he picked her up and twirled her in a circle. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He laughed with joy as his eyes glistened. He set her down, and in an instant, Jeremy was pulling her close.

He was sobbing without shame. "They told me you died." He said, over and over. Elena held him tight, knowing her brother must have had a hell of a time of it, especially since she was the only one left after Jenna's untimely death.

Alaric put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, sincerely. Elena pulled out of Jeremy's arms just enough to hug Alaric close, too. He seemed surprised, but returned the embrace.

Damon was also standing by this time, and he looked a little annoyed at the interruption. Bonnie joined them and they all started asking Elena questions and voicing their relief, how and when and thank god. All except for Caroline and Tyler. They stood watching from the doorway, their eyes going from Damon to Elena, and then back again. They could sense that somehow their vampire friends had turned human.

Any questions they might have had, and anybody else's questions for that matter, were cut off when something smashed through the window. It was big, and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop. It pulled itself up, and Elena saw that it was a man, in a long, dark, flowing cloak. He pulled back the hood, and everyone's breath caught. "Hello my pretties."

**_A/N: I had to do this in the morning when I was half-dead, so it is very likely there are millions of typos, so just review or IM if you find any. I like to fix them._**


	15. At Last

He stood in the center of living room, in human form, but the snarl and glare he gave them all did just as well to intimidate them as any(half-vampire half-werewolf man)body could. "You killed my brother!" Klaus screamed in rage. He was looking directly at me. "You bitch, you fucking _whore_!" He howled in rage. "You'll die for what you've done!"

He stalked closer to me, but Caroline moved into his way. Klaus stopped to take her in, laughing maniacally when he looked her up and down. She held up one fist, her left. The other arm was completely bound to her torso in a splint made of white bandages. _When did that happen? _I thought. She was no match for Klaus.

Klaus picked Caroline up by the shirt easily and flung her hard into the wall. Or, a t least I thought he did. But somehow she flew into Tyler instead. They both fell to the floor. Did Tyler just move so fast I couldn't see? For the first time in a long time, I felt terror, not just for my friends, but for me. I finally wanted to live, and I become so weak I can't even defend myself. Irony, but you are a wicked thing.

I backed up, my eyes huge and wide. I think I may have actually _cried._ Klaus moved with confidence, closer and closer."And you've killed my brother," Damon said fiercely as he moved to stand in front of me, but Klaus backhanded him and Damon flew easily across the room. I screamed, staring after Damon in horror.

Matt ran forward to me, and I saw it just as Bonnie did when Klaus raised his now-clawed hand to slice Matt's throat. Fortunately, unlike me, Bonnie could actually _do _something about it. She raised her hand and shouted a few words in a language I didn't know. Klaus pulled his hand back and screeched in rage as it erupted in fire.

Matt was still going strong, though, and even though Klaus' hand was currently on fire, it didn't mean that he was rendered incapable of murder. I ran forward and pushed Matt out of the way. I may be scared, but _no one_ would die for me.

As a result, the hand that was meant to wrap around Matt's throat wrapped around mine instead. Klaus grinned when he saw his prize, but then he frowned. "You're human," he said, examining me closer. Then his grin was back bigger than before. He slowly lifted me up and held me against the wall. He tightened his fingers, and started chuckling happily when I desperately tried to scratch at his hand and struggled for air. Purple and green spots started appearing on the inside of my eyelids. But my eyes weren't even closed, were they? I didn't know, it was getting harder to think.

Instead of rushing Klaus like Matt, I guess Alaric decided he'd rather go get weapons. I heard a _thwop _noise and Klaus grip loosened just enough to give me some air. I could see again. I followed Klaus vision to where Alaric stood pointing a crossbow at him with deadly determination. There was an arrow in Klaus' shoulder. "Did you really think you could do _anything _with that sissy bow?" Klaus asked, honestly intrigued.

Alaric smiled. "No."

Just then Jeremy reared back and plunged the dagger into Klaus' back. Klaus let go of me, surprised, as he stared down at his chest, where just the point of the bloody knife stuck out past through his heart. He laughed, softly at first, but then it turned into a full-fledged roar. "Did you really think your special little ashen dagger could stop me?" He turned suddenly and snapped Jeremy's neck. I winced and gave a little cry of pain. "The only thing any of you can do, is run," he told us all. He made a show of slipping the dagger out and snapping the blade in two. I stepped a little closer to him from where I'd leaned against the wall. "Not that it will help," he said, turning back to me.

He didn't expect me to be so close. He also didn't expect me to reach up and kiss him. I took him by surprise, and I think he actually enjoyed it, at first. Then, the hands gripping my waist grew painfully tight. "Sorry, bitch, the only way I'd fuck you is if you were dead." One hand moved to the back of my head and pulled my hair harshly to the side so that my neck was bared. "You lost that privilege, little ducky, when you killed my favorite brother."

His fangs had barely broken skin when he reared back in pain. "Gah!" He screamed, hunched over in agony. "What did you do?" He demanded. I stared back icily. He looked to where Bonnie was staring at him with frightened eyes. "It was you, you witch slut! I'll fucking kill you-!" He staggered over to her, but only made it two feet before falling. He writhed on the floor, screaming and yelling.

I went over to Damon, who was just coming to. He'd hit his head hard on the wall, but he said he was okay. I told him he wasn't okay, he was fine, but I don't think he got it. I also don't know why I'd felt the need to joke at all. It might have been because I didn't know how to put into words what I felt. I didn't know how to say that I would have been lost if anything had happened to him, and would never have found my way back, that I wouldn't even care to come back this time. But as we held each other after that brief fight, I think he, at least, got that.

0000000

I told everyone everything that had happened to me and Damon, and what was now going to happen with Klaus. Everyone insisted on staying, and I don't just mean in the house, I mean in the living room. We sat on the floor, milled by the fireplace, lounged on the couch. We talked, played cards, kept quiet. Every once in a while someone would glance at the body, as if he would wake up at any second and laugh at us all for falling for his joke. Hell, even I expected it. It seemed too easy, you know? If you could even call all we've been through that easy. Or maybe it just seemed too good to be true? That must have been it, but I surprised myself by remaining hopeful.

I don't think anyone slept a wink, even though it took a whole twenty-four hours for the change (or was it, de-change?) to take place. No one wanted to miss a thing. We were all too scared to miss a thing.

Jeremy woke up first. He slowly rose from his awkward position on the floor. I put a pillow under his head, but I hadn't been comfortable moving him when he was in that state. He groaned and rubbed his head. "What'd I miss?" He asked, sleepily.

"Nothing much." Caroline snarked. Matt told me he guesses she's just been pretty grumpy from losing an arm. He'd done his best to reattach it and sew it up and everything, including strapping her in a cast of bandages that made her look borderline mummy. But the truth was, none of them knew whether or not it would heal right, or try to grow a new arm, or what. Not even Damon knew, and he'd been a vampire for a long time.

Jeremy sighed and cracked his neck. I almost lost the meager contents of my stomach. It definitely had not sounded right. I wasn't alone, Bonnie was staring at him with a horrified look, too. But it was lost on Jeremy, because when he turned his head he saw Klaus crumpled on the floor. He yelled and scrambled as fast as he could from the dead man. It made me smile just a little.

He was looking from our calm faces to the body and back again. I let him struggle for a few seconds before I started to catch him up on what those tricky little witches had done this time.

I was just about finished when Klaus started moaning. He wiggled on the floor a little. Everyone was staring at him with wide eyes, holding their breaths.

His eyes shot open, and a few of us jumped, including yours truly, but also including Damon. Damon caught my glance and blushed. He _blushed. _Human Damon blushes, good to know.

No one really knew what to do when he started screaming. "You foul miserable little fuckduckies!" He screamed again, loud enough to hurt my ears. He let out a stream of foreign curses, all of them indistinguishable, except one word: human. Klaus had figured out what he was, and he was going hysterical. No one knew what to do. No one, that is, except for Alaric.

Alaric pounced on Klaus and started to pummel him. "You're the miserable little motherfucker cock sucking son of a bitch asshole…" and on and on it went. I don't know if Klaus was too stunned to fight back, after all, he'd probably never been in a losing fight before, or if he was just that weak in human form. Alaric continued to beat him and curse at him until Klaus was unrecognizable. He looked like he didn't have any skin on his face, not that that was the only place Alaric made sure to hit and kick him. No one tried to stop him, no one wanted to. Least of all me.

Finally, amid the string of foul insults and threats, I heard something else, a quiet "this is for Jenna, you bastard." I saw that Alaric had finally slipped an actual knife in Klaus' chest, once and for all ending him. There were tears on Alaric's cheeks and he took a deep breath. I think it was the first in years.

I took a deep breath too, and found it was the same for me.


	16. An Offer You Can't Refuse, Or Can

After Klaus died, I think everyone was at a loss. Where do we go from here? So much of our lives recently were centered on finding Klaus and killing him. Our whole lives were changed when we got together, and even more so now that we've succeeded. With that uncertainty, came a whole hell of a lot of boredom.

We were all literally sitting in silence, still in the living room. It was weird to think none of us had been anywhere else in over a day. Every once and a while, we glanced at Klaus' body. We didn't really expect him to wake up, but it was something to do.

I myself was watching Caroline. She was the most interesting because she kept fidgeting. You'd think someone who would live forever would have eventually learned patience. I was still watching her when I saw her raise her left hand—the only good one she had at the moment—up to her face to examine her fingernails. Then, noticing a flaw, she twitched as if to raise the other hand to file it away. I saw the pain on her face when she realized she couldn't. I was about to say something when she beat me to it. "We should get rid of the body." The sharp and whiny, yet bitchy tone of her voice made me flinch, though I knew she was right.

Damon was the first one to move, probably figuring he would get stuck with the job anyway, when Alaric finally stirred from his trance by the body. "I'll take care of it," he told us in a gruff voice. He got up and picked Klaus' body easily from the floor. He carried out of the living room and to the door.

"Poor Alaric," Bonnie sighed when he left.

"Yeah, poor Ric." Caroline said sarcastically, her face twisted up in a grimace.

"Caroline!" I exclaimed.

"What?" Caroline whined. "Dude just got justice for his dead honey bug. I got my arm ripped off." She paused and tilted her head in mock thought, even put one finger to her chin. "Hmm. Who do you think has it hardest now, again? It's a real puzzler."

Tyler put her arm around her and she immediately sank into his embrace. "It'll be okay baby. We'll fix this. Even if we have to get Bonnie to magic you a new arm."

Caroline sniffled and snuggled into him. "Would you get me Paris Hilton's arm?" She asked quietly.

"In a heartbeat," Tyler answered without pause or blinking. It made Caroline finally smile.

I couldn't resist turning to Damon and asking him if he would do that for me.

"No." He said simply. "It wouldn't look good on you." I punched him in the stomach and he grunted, though I know it didn't hurt. "You're more of a Meghan Fox." It seemed that annoying being had only gotten more popular over the last ten years.

"Ew." Caroline, Bonnie, and I all said at the same time.

"What's wrong with Meghan Fox?" Damon asked. "I was trying to complement you."

"That isn't a complement!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Caroline nodded. "She's horrible."

"What are you talking about?" Tyler said in surprise. "She's hot." Caroline gave him a look like she was about to punch him in the stomach, too. He shut up. Good thing too, I had a feeling if Caroline hit him, even when she only had one arm, it would probably cause internal bleeding.

"Jeremy?" Bonnie asked desperately.

He just laughed. "Yeah she's okay, but not as hot as you, Bonnie." This appeased his girlfriend, and she smiled up at him, but then joined her two other best friends in looking at Matt expectantly.

His eyebrows rose at our glares. "I'd like to refrain from comment." We collectively turned away in disgust, and his fellow brethren also glared at him. He shrugged ruefully. In trying not to piss anyone off, he'd annoyed us all.

The boring silence set in again. At least, it was silent, until Caroline and Tyler started making out. It was truly disgusting. But that's probably just the jealousy talking. I wished that that were me and Damon making out on the couch, but my human self felt too self-conscious for that. I continued watching them intently for a few minutes, until I realized that the way they were moving against each other and moaning and licking and smacking was starting to turn me on. I quickly looked away and saw Damon looking at me, too. It had affected him the same way.

We moved closer to each other, entranced by the other's eyes, when Jeremy called out to me. "Wait, Elena, I wanted to ask you something." It broke me from my spell and I realized that Damon and I weren't the only people in the room just because we wanted to be.

I looked at Bonnie, and she was just chilling out, leaning against the wall. She didn't look the least bit put off or interested. Maybe she'd seen a lot of it with her past life? Matt was turned away from where Care and Ty were on the couch, and he was watching the floor with a frown. Jeremy was moving hesitantly toward me.

I took a step away from Damon to regain my self-control, but all it did was make Caroline and Tyler more distracting. I tried to focus on what Jeremy needed from me, but just as he opened his mouth to speak I heard an unhappy whimper from Caroline and my eyes were drawn instinctively towards her. So, apparently, was everyone else's.

Ignoring all of us, she looked at Tyler with eyes close to tears. "This is hopeless." She said shakily, "I can't even touch you back. You can't be enjoying making out with a cripple." Tears actually did fall, and she wiped at them with her one hand.

He caught her free hand and wiped away the tears for her. His dark eyes looked into her face intently and he smiled. "I think you're technically not a cripple. Your legs are fine. Perfect, even." Caroline smiled a little and leaned into Tyler a little closer for another kiss.

"Actually," Damon piped in, "a cripple is someone who's damaged in any way. So, you technically are one."

Caroline pulled away and started to cry again. Tyler glared at Damon with murder in his eyes. I helped.

Tyler turned back to his girl and held her good arm immobile when she tried to pull away. He tugged her closer and grinned when she couldn't put up much of a fight. He gave a little growl that shocked Caroline into looking into his face. His eyes were glowing yellow and he was smirking as he pulled her even closer. "I think it's sexy. You can't fight back…not that you'd want to." Her eyes were wide as he leaned in closer and gave her a teasing brush of his lips, pulling away when she tried to kiss him back. "Completely helpless." He said, holding her still while he moved to nuzzle her neck.

Caroline gasped and arched closer to him. "You-are-so—" she struggled for words, "alpha." She sighed, and gave in.

I _had _to look away, or I was going to lose it. I focused my attention on my brother, who was focusing on them with a fascinated expression. I snapped my fingers in his face to get his attention. "Right, uhh, I had a question. Well, a request, really."

I waited, but he didn't say anything. "Well?" I finally prompted.

"Um." Jeremy gulped.

"Spit it out, Jer," I laughed. Bonnie was watching with interest, too, so she didn't know what he was getting at either.

"I want to be human." He spit it out in a rush, and winced.

"Jeremy, you are human." I told him, confused.

"Elena, seeing ghosts isn't normal. It isn't human." He winced again.

"What is it, Jeremy, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked, coming over to him and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"It's _them_. The ghosts. They aren't happy with how I feel. If I leave, they won't have anyone to talk to, and they are definitely making their thoughts known." He plugged one ear. They must have been screaming at him, or yelling or something.

"Jeremy," Damon argued, "Bonnie is a witch, but you wouldn't call her inhuman, would you?" I was proud of my man just then, he made a good argument.

"It's different—" Jeremy struggled with his words. "They've actually been pretty helpful when they weren't ruining my life. They were someone to talk to when I felt most alone, they helped me cheat on tests, hell, they even told me to when to attack in these past two fights so I could be most helpful, but I can't handle it. I can't handle their constant presence, the way I've been so alone, but yet never given a moment of solitude. I don't want this, Elena. I need you to help me."

"I don't even know if it would work," I said, biting my lip, unconvinced.

Jeremy looked at me with pleading eyes. "Elena, you left me, and I forgave you, because you're my sister and I love you and would do anything for you," I looked down, ashamed. So, he was going to play that card. "But now you have the chance to help me, and if you won't, I can't forgive you."

"Okay." I whispered, tears slipping down my cheek. He flinched at whatever the ghosts did this time, but the relieved smile was clear on his face.

He stepped forward. "We won't have to, uhm, you know, make out like you did with Klaus, do we?"

I started to shake my head when Damon's eyes snapped to mine. "What?" He asked dangerously. He began to stalk over to me, glaring all the while.

"Yep," Caroline piped up. "While you were out cold." She tsked sympathetically. Apparently she and Tyler had stopped their make-out session to watch the show.

"I had to make sure it worked." I said in a small voice, and laughed nervously, but Damon didn't laugh with me. I swallowed as he got closer.

"Guys, please," Jeremy pleaded. "Have your jealous fight after I'm normal again."

I turned back to him and frowned. "Sorry," she said. "I don't think we'll have to, uh, I think a simple kiss is all I really need. We'll find out anyway if you don't die at first."

"Why not just go all out on the first try?" Damon asked, clearly still angry. "After all, he's only really your—what, cousin? Cousins get married in Virginia all the time."

We both glared at him, but neither said anything. As I moved closer to Jeremy's face, I couldn't help but be a little weirded out. The first two guys I'd done this to, I _had_ kissed passionately. Klaus maybe even more so, because I was so scared it wouldn't work. Now I had to kiss my brother. I mentally slapped my brain and told it it was being stupid. This was my brother; a chaste peck on the lips wasn't weird. I finally convinced myself, and moved up quickly to peck his lips.

His eyes flew open in surprise. He hadn't expected it to be so quick. "How do we know it worked?" He asked. "How quick is it?"

"Pretty quick." I answered.

He looked around for a few seconds. "Oh!" He exclaimed suddenly.

"What is it?" I asked anxiously.

"I should have gone to the couch." And then he fell.

Luckily, Damon caught him just in time. He moved Jeremy awkwardly to the couch, which he ordered Caroline and Tyler to evacuate immediately. I puffed up a nearby pillow and put it under his head. I wasn't as afraid to touch him this time as when Klaus broke his neck.

Damon shot me an icy glare before he stormed out of the room. I looked from between him and Jeremy. "Elena," Bonnie started, seeing my indecision, "I can look after him." I nodded my appreciation and left to go get Damon.

"Damon!" I called once I found him in one of the hallways, but he kept walking. "Hey!" I called once I caught up with him and grabbed his arm so he would stop. "What do you want?" He asked coldly.

"Honestly!" I said in disgust. "How can you be so insecure as to be jealous of Klaus! He _murdered _my aunt, my husband, and my fucking brother! I hate his guts! I would literally throw pieces of his guts into the fire one at a time. I kissed him because that was the way I kissed you, I didn't know if a small kiss would work. Do you think I'd take that chance with people I love in the room? People including you?" I shook my head and looked to see if he finally understood, but he still looked angry. "Look," I said, more softly, "Do you know what I was thinking about when I kissed Klaus?" He didn't look at me. I put my hand on his face and led his eyes to mine. He shook his head. "I was thinking, 'oh, god, is he going to kill me before it works?'. I was literally praying that I wouldn't die."

He put his hand against my cheek now. "I'm sorry," his eyes filled with sorrow.

"All I could think about when I kissed you was IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou." I whispered, and leaned into him for a kiss.

He took me hungrily, a pleasant surprise, but I had to pull away when he pulled open one of the doorways to tug me into. "I can't. We still have people over. And I need to make sure Jeremy wakes up okay."

Damon gave a long-suffering sigh. "Later, I promise." I told him, and walked back to the living room to tend to my brother.

Bonnie was sitting with her back against the couch and holding one of Jeremy's hands. Matt was sitting on the armrest by Jeremy's feet. Caroline and Tyler seemed to be staring at Jeremy with concern.

Just then Alaric lumbered in, his heavy boots loud even against the carpet of the living room. He was splattered with blood. We all looked at him with shock. "Had to make sure the bastard never woke up." He explained. None of us wanted to know more. He'd probably chopped him up like we'd planned when he was a vampire. I'm sure it wouldn't have mattered when Klaus turned human, but whatever made Alaric feel better was fine in my book. He sank heavily into a loveseat. He didn't ask what had happened to Jeremy.

I explained anyway, and he listened without commenting. "Um, speaking of…Caroline…"

"Hmm?" Caroline asked.

I stepped towards her. "Do you want me to help you, too?"

"What?" Caroline screeched and backpedaled so fast she almost fell. "Stay away from me!" She held her hand up as if do defend herself from a blow.

"Caroline," I said, trying to hold out my arms in an appeasing way. "I would never hurt you." I took another step, and in an instant Tyler was in front of her as if to protect her. From me.

He growled. "Stay away from her." He warned.

"I only want to help." I tried to explain, and Damon pulled me back a little ways, away from the angry werewolf.

Caroline peeked out from behind Tyler and looked at her with wide eyes. "Are you crazy?" She said in a ridiculously high voice. "You want to turn me a human again when my life has clearly never been better? You think that's helping?"

"I-I—"

"You want to turn me back just as I've lost an arm for you and your stupid cause? Did you think for one second what would happen if you did? I could lose my arm forever!" She put her hand on Tyler's shoulder. "We should leave before Elena the Righteous tries to cure us." They turned to go.

"Wait! I'm so sorry you guys! I didn't realize-I wasn't thinking-I-if you ever need me I'll be…here." But they were already gone.

I sighed, and leaned into Damon. Alaric stood up. "I should go, too." Alaric said. Elena turned hurt eyes on him. "I'm not mad, I just think I need some alone time. Killing Klaus has kind of been my life's mission for a while. Now I need to think up a new one." He came over and gave me a hug. "Keep in touch." And like that he was gone, too.

"I'm going to head out, too." Matt said, coming closer.

"But aren't you staying here?" I asked, worried.

"I actually still have the old house." He told me. "And like Ric, I think I could probably use a little down time." He hugged me tightly for slightly longer than Alaric had. "Stay safe, visit me. I'm a lonely old divorcee now."

"Of course," I assured him, and with a handshake with Damon, he was gone, too.

I sat down next to Bonnie. "I'm sorry." She said before I could say anything. And before I could ask why she was sorry she spoke again. "I don't have anywhere else to go right now. I can look for apartments tomorrow, but I can't leave Jeremy tonight."

"I would never ask!" I exclaimed, offended. "And you can stay here as long as you like."

Gratitude filled her expression. "Thank you, Elena."

0000000

No matter what I said, I couldn't get Bonnie to leave Jeremy's side, not even to relax or rest. She remained by his side vigilantly. I myself fell asleep, and I had a sneaking suspicion she'd remained awake the whole night.

When I woke from my uncomfortable position on the floor, I looked at the clock and saw Jeremy would be waking up soon. Almost 24 hours had passed.

When the wake-up haze that had never been there as a vampire finally passed, I asked Bonnie the question that had bothered me in my dreams. "Bonnie, if I'd offered you what I did Caroline, would you have reacted the same way?"

Her hand tensed where she was smoothing out Jeremy's hair, and I got the distinct feel of panic from her. "No," She said slowly and carefully. "But I would have been a little scared. You've got to understand, the magic is a part of me. Losing it is as palpable as losing a limb, trust me, I know." She paused. "Um, well not about the limb part, but I have lost my magic before, twice, and it was horrible. A part of me was dead. I'm sure that's how Caroline felt, but she just panicked. She hasn't always been known for her reasoning or tact." Bonnie said diplomatically.

"I would never do that to someone unless they asked me!" I defended myself. "Or, well, they try to kill me."

"I know that." Bonnie looked at me and laughed, but stopped abruptly when she noticed movement from the couch. "Jeremy?" She asked breathlessly.

"Ughth." He groaned. "I'm getting really tired of dying." His eyes flicked open and he smiled when they found Bonnie. She laughed and kissed him on the mouth gently before pulling away. His eyes widened. "No voices!" He whispered, his eyes shining. He looked at me with joy. "Thank you so much, Elena."

He got up groaning and Bonnie fretted over him. "Elena, are you sure he's okay to move? How was Damon when he woke up?"

I blushed when I remembered the activities Damon and I participated in almost immediately after he'd woke up. "He should be okay." I said lightly.

"Yeah, I just feel like I've got a bad hangover." Jeremy added. He sniffed. "God, is that me? I need a shower."

Bonnie laughed. "Me, too."

"Bonnie was by your side the entire time. I don't even know if she got up to pee." I informed my brother.

"Really?" He asked, and looked at Bonnie thankfully. She blushed. "Would you like to come home with me?" He asked. "For a shower?" He added.

Her smile was huge. "I'd love to." She said, and they both walked out, arm in stinky arm.

All of a sudden I was in a once-full house with only Damon. It was a peculiar feeling. Before, I think I would have been depressed. Their energy had sustained me. But now, I didn't need that. I had my own energy, my own will. And right now, all I wanted to do was go upstairs and wake the love of my life up the way one should be woken up—by the person who loved them most giving them pleasure.

Damon enjoyed that very much, and we made love after that, not thinking about anything but each other while we were in each other's arms.

**(A/N) I originally thought this would be the end pretty much, but now I've got another idea...and I'm going to see where it goes, so here's to hoping I can get around to writing soon.**


	17. Happy Halloween

_**A/N: **_**Alright, it's the wrong time of the year, but I wrote this when it _was _October, and I didn't have it in me to change it.**

Damon rolled his eyes and gave a snort of superiority. "I don't carve pumpkins."

Elena laughed. "But it's Halloween!" She protested. "You have to."

"I don't care what holiday it is, it looks stupid, messy, and a lot of work for something that's just going to rot the day after anyway."

Elena got on her tiptoes and lightly kissed his neck. "Some of the best things are messy," she whispered, her lips brushing him with each word.

He turned to look at her in relative surprise, and was leaning in to kiss her when their moment was ruined by an errant thought that crept its way into Elena's mind. "Shit. I forgot to pick up sugar at the store."

"I've got your sugar right here." Damon laughed, and took her small waist in his strong hands. He leaned into her and his mouth fairly attacked her. One hand started sneaking under her short skirt, sliding up her thigh.

Elena kissed him back, laughing, before she gently tugged against his hold and he reluctantly let her escape. "You like your coffee more than I do, and you'll be sorry if there's no sugar for it in the morning."

He growled. "I hate it when you get all reasonable."

She grinned as she grabbed her coat. "I may be heading out for the sweet white stuff from the store, but it's not the white stuff I want." She said in a fake breathy voice.

Damon's face twisted into a grimace. "That was downright lame." He told her, fighting his smile.

"Yeah, but it turned you on." She argued.

"Everything about you makes me hard." He told her, sincerely. He sighed. "It's really like a curse."

"Well, we will continue what we started when I get back. Promise." Elena blew him a kiss and left the house.

Damon turned back to the pumpkin. It couldn't be too hard if normal people did it every year. And if it would make Elena happy…

He plopped down and got to work. Fifteen minutes later he heard Elena coming through the door, but he didn't stop what he was doing.

"Damon?" She called out loudly to no response. "Damon?" She said a bit quieter when she entered the kitchen. She was rendered speechless at the sight.

His hands were covered in goo, and he was ripping the guts from the pumpkin with what seemed like frenzied delight. He probably would have used vampire speed, had he been able to. Elena was pleased at first, but then it occurred to her that maybe Damon missed being a vampire, and some of the perks that came with it. Including ripping the guts from people…

She shook her head and told herself that was stupid, a complete overreaction on her part. "That looks really good, but you're getting the guts everywhere."

He looked around. "Huh. It's almost as messy as—" he didn't finish his sentence, and Elena hoped that he wouldn't have said gutting people. "I'm going to go wash up." He got up and gave Elena a quick peck on the mouth, leaving her in the kitchen alone.

She got on her hands and knees and started to pick up Damon's mess a little. She saw Damon's pumpkin and immediately guilt assailed her. It had a dopey lopsided smile, not a grimace, and not fangs. How could she have been so suspicious of Damon? After all, he'd only carved the pumpkin to please her.

She didn't hear him come in, but felt it when his hands were at her hips. She smiled. "You didn't have to do that." He rumbled in a deep voice. He kneeled behind her and pulled her so that she was know sitting on her knees as she leaned back into him. "I could have cleaned up." His arm wrapped around her and his hand traced patterns lazily over her stomach.

"I didn't want you to tire yourself. I'm going to need you at full strength." She turned her head and said the last words into his mouth.

He grinned back, not taking her mouth, even though his eyes were fixed on it. "Kiss me." She demanded.

"Make me." He challenged. Elena pushed her back against his chest, and he didn't budge an inch, but it did distract him from her lips. She slammed her mouth against his and moaned with pure delight when he kissed her back. His skin had its own special, hot flavor. Lately it was all she'd been craving.

Damon moved the hand that held her stomach against him to her face, to hold her in place while his lips thoroughly devoured her. He sucked on her bottom lip hard enough for it to swell into a sexy pout before moving on to nip at her neck. Some desires never faded, and Damon still had a penchant for necks. And biting.

Elena lost her balance and fell forward, catching herself with her hands, but almost slipping because the tile was still slippery with pumpkin slime. She tried to lift herself back to his lips, but found his hands lightly pushing her back down. "Stay." He rose over her and bit her neck once more. "Just because we're human doesn't mean we can't be kinky." Elena moaned as he slipped her shirt over her head with one hand and gave her breast long, hard, pulling strokes with the other one.

It was easy for him to slide her skirt over her head next. The underwear proved more of a challenge. After sliding his palm back and forth over the cloth-covered mound, he ripped them from her body. Elena opened her mouth to protest, but Damon yanked her thighs apart. "I want you wider." Her words turned into a squeak as she felt cold air against her warmth.

The sensation didn't last long though, as it was quickly replaced by a much more stimulating one. He fit his legs between her spread ones, and the cold air was displaced by something new. She felt the rough fabric of his jeans first, and then as he moved against her with long, slow grinds, she felt the hard ridge they concealed. She tried to wiggle away, but his hands held her hips in a tight grip. If he kept rubbing against her, she was going to come, and it wouldn't be nearly as good as coming with him inside her.

"Please, Damon, no more teasing." She moaned as one hand moved back up to pinch her nipple.

"I'm sorry, what was that, Lover?" His voice was deep and gravelly, but she could tell he was smiling a satisfied male smile.

Elena's annoyance vanished as one hand moved lower and his fingers teased her entrance. "Please Please Damon please." Her last plea was whispered, broken and desperate. She lost all pretenses as she begged. She needed him. She heard his zipper and cried out in relief.

Damon didn't try teasing her this time. Torturing her was really worse for him. He had to watch her wiggling and begging underneath him. It was enough to make him come if he didn't concentrate. Not to mention just feeling her warm body…

No, he couldn't wait. He surged into her. "I love you!" Elena shouted. He hadn't meant to start out so hard, ruthlessly pumping in and out of her, without control, but it was really her fault. Hearing her tell him that while he was inside her was just mean. Cruel, even. And so, so, _unbelievably _hot. He fucked her harder, playing with her tits and holding her in place.

Her whole body started shaking, and her legs gave out. He held her up as he continued to drill into her. "I love you," His voice was hoarse and perfect. Elena gave a yell as her orgasm hit her. Damon felt her shrinking, tightening, and closing in around him. It took more effort to pound into her, but he didn't have to long before her little muscles were eliciting his own response. He collapsed on top of her, and laid on top of her on the floor, his hips still giving small pumps as he poured the rest of himself out inside her.

He slipped off of her and onto the floor and pulled her close. He was almost asleep right there, his cock out and sated, on the hard tile of his kitchen floor. It wouldn't have been difficult, not with Elena next to him, but then he felt something underneath him. "What the—" He pulled whatever it had been from underneath him to examine it. It was a sticky string of pumpkin guts, with a few seeds still attached.

"Next time, remind me to make you finish cleaning before we try to make another mess." Elena said as she plucked something similar from her hair. Damon laughed and kissed her on the top of the head.


	18. Guess Who's Back

"Jesus!" Perfectly plump, red lips swore as the car she was in swerved hard and sudden enough to leave marks on the road. "I know you want to go see your girlfriend, but don't take out your frustrations on the car. It's a classic." The young woman said of the car. It was one of her favorite mustangs. That was saying a lot, considering she had about 20 different models.

She had a pleasant voice, delicately accented and sweet. However, it was starting to get on her companion's nerves. "Wife," he ground out.

"What?" She asked, uninterested, as she stared into a compact she'd taken out.

"She is my wife." He said, anger evident in his voice.

The blonde snapped her compact shut in annoyance. "Was," she corrected.

"What?" He all but growled.

"She _was _your wife. You're with me now." The blonde turned in the passenger seat and faced him full on. "It's been years, and we've done things your innocent little twit can't even spell." Her lips moved slowly, provocatively.

"Only because Klaus made me." He swallowed, and wouldn't look at her.

There was laughter in her voice, and her lips curled devilishly. She put a hand on his shoulder, and moved in until her lips were at his ear. "I was talking about before you even met her. You were mine from the beginning." He shook the memories from decades prior clear of his mind.

"The only reason I was with you this time, for so long, was because Klaus made me." His voice was low, and quite tortured. The woman he was with hated this broody demeanor. She much preferred the happy, violent, and passionate man she'd first met.

She moved her lips lower and lightly brushed them against his neck. "Would you so easily forsake me? What we had was beautiful. If Klaus hadn't—" She broke off. It still hurt to think of him. "We would still be together." She told him as she nuzzled his neck with her nose. She kissed him a little harder at his pulse point. His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, but he did nothing to stop her. Her fangs came out and she could almost taste his blood. "You never would have met her, and we would still be happy." She opened her mouth as she prepared her mouth to strike.

He swerved the car again violently, and the girl slammed hard into the passenger side door. She growled. "What makes you think she'll even want you? After you've killed so many more, after what we've shared since you left her? She'll look at you with disgust." Much the way the blonde was looking at him now. "Hell, you even forgot _her_, period, while you were having so much fun."

His fangs came out and he stared at her with hatred. "Klaus made me! He took my humanity, but he never took her away from me!" Even in his darkest hours, he still remembered his lost love. Her shadow was always behind him, beside him, all around him, haunting him.

"I guess that's true." The blonde conceded with a pout. "Even though you had me—still can have me, in fact—your first thought is to go to her. Once Klaus' hold over you was gone, your first move is to run to one who may not even want you back. I guess that's the true devotion of a fool." She crossed her arms around her small frame and sat back in her seat, prepared to pout for however long this car ride was.

She was startled out of her resolve by his strangled laughter. The laughter of a madman. "Don't you see? You're the fool. My girl was the one to kill him. She did it so we can be together again. She's waiting for me." His eyes grew dreamy as he gazed off into the distance, not seeing the road in front of the car, but a memory of her.

Her full, red lips parted in surprise. "Do you really think that?" Her voice held the first true traces of sympathy. "She was compelled, just like you."

"She fought it!" He yelled. "She fought it for me, for us!" His voice broke.

"Even if she _could _fight the compulsion," the blonde started slowly, "which would be hard to do without his blood in your system, the only thing he compelled her to do was not to kill herself. She thought you were dead without the compulsion." Her companion made no move to indicate he heard her, or was listening. "If the compulsion over her was lifted…it's possible she's killed herself."

The eyes he turned to her were cold, and yet like fire. "She isn't dead." He said with a quiet strength, a quiet menace. "She killed Klaus, and she'll understand about the humans. She'll understand. I've changed for her once, I can do it again." He turned back to the road like a zombie.

His thoughts turned to the girl he had loved. _Still_ loved. She hadn't even wanted to be a 'vegetarian' vampire when he had first turned her. He'd never seen someone lust for human blood so strongly. He was a fool for changing her to suit him. He had succeeded, but he couldn't help but wonder if she would be relieved when he came back with a taste for human blood. Hell, she had never been happy as a vampire, probably because he'd never let her actually be one. When he finally got back to her, he would show her what being a vampire was about. They'd have fun, and she'd be happy to have him back. Things would be perfect. He just had to get to her. His foot pressed harder onto the pedal, and his teeth clenched.

The girl didn't say anything. She didn't say that he was being irrational, borderline delusional, that there was almost no way anyone could go from the extreme bloodhound they'd been for the past ten years to some saint. She most certainly did not ask why he wanted to be with someone who wanted him to change when he could have her, someone who loved him for what he truly was. "How do you know where she'll be?" She finally asked quietly.

He scoffed. "Where else would she go?" He muttered under his breath, "Mystic Falls."

He heard someone in the kitchen. He used his vampire speed to get there. His heart didn't need to beat, but when he finally saw Elena, it skipped and he had to catch his breath. She lifted her head with its bedraggled hair and stared at him with an unfathomable expression. Her mouth was open and her eyes were wide. "Stefan?" Her strangled voice choked out.

His heart stopped completely when he saw his brother's arms wrapped around her naked form.


	19. Stefan

Stefan felt the air he didn't actually need start to pump through his throat rapidly. He felt the swell and fall of his chest as his head pounded. His eyes were locked onto hers. He swayed a little. He vaguely wondered if this was what a panic attack felt like, and if so, how lame would that be? Vampires don't get panic attacks.

Her eyes glittered with emotion. Love, relief, and guilt. But mostly pain. Stefan wanted to tell her none of that mattered. She'd been lonely, confused. Maybe she even needed Damon's help killing Klaus. It didn't matter. Stefan had made mistakes, too. But now they could be together…She looked like she was trying to say something, but her lips faltered.

Stefan took a step closer to her, their eyes still locked.

Damon stood suddenly and moved in front of her. Stefan's thoughts—he couldn't say what they were—buzzed angrily and he back handed his brother without thinking. Stefan _needed _to see her eyes. Damon blocking his view was unacceptable. Stefan was grateful for whatever help Damon had given her, but if he thought for one second that Stefan would allow that to continue now that he'd returned for his lovely little love—

Well. Stefan would just have to take care of that. He wasn't about to share Elena.

Elena cried out and scrambled to Damon's side, her hands moving to caress his face. Stefan stared, uncomprehending. Didn't she understand? Shouldn't she be flying to _his _side, wondering if _he _was okay? Did she think she was just imagining him? Stefan knew he'd had countless hallucinations of her over the years. That was it. She was just confused, probably still suffering from the side effects of Klaus' compulsion.

He knelt beside her and watched while she cried and tried to wake Damon. He absently noticed the orange goo that covered them both. "Relax, Elena." He said in a soothing voice. "He's just unconscious." She turned to look at him with watery eyes. His breath caught and he knew he could never get tired of looking at those deep coffee-colored pools. He remembered how he'd had the distinct thought, the first time he saw her, that she was the only one in the world who would ever understand him. It used to be Stefan and Elena against the world, and it would be again.

She turned away and looked at Damon once more. She leaned down and kissed Damon's cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered against his ear, but Stefan heard of course. She probably meant the fact that she would have to leave him now that Stefan was back. He was just starting to wonder how he'd so easily dispatched his vampire brother when Elena turned and lunged at him, her lips finding his mouth naturally, easily, even after all those years.

Stefan caught her and held her impossibly close. His mouth eagerly met her energetic kiss, and soon he was the one in control. He parted her lips easily, and let his tongue trace and taste her, relearning and reliving old memories as he said hello. A tear fell from his eye as he felt her lips move against his. They were so undeniably perfect and unlike any other girls'. She felt like home.

One arm hooked around her waist as the other smoothed down her back. He intensified the kiss when he felt her squirm. He finally moved his mouth from her lips, in search of her neck, but was startled from his quest when he heard her gasp in frantic gulps of air. He looked at her in surprise. Her face was shiny with tears, and she was doing her best to push him away. She must have been pushing at him for a while. It physically pained him to let her go, but Stefan released her. This was probably just going too fast for her. And Stefan wanted to give her all the time she needed.

He watched, his brows furrowed as she scooted back to Damon, and watched Stefan wearily. She was waiting for something, watching him with growing disbelief as time went on and nothing happened. "Why-why aren't you—?" Her voice was scratchy and weak.

Stefan took a step towards her, but stopped when he saw her cringe. "Are you confused?" He asked her. "Do you think I'm an illusion?" Compassion filled his eyes, and he stepped closer despite her cry of alarm. "It's okay, I swear. I'll help you." He reached out to her, and she started sobbing with heavy breaths. She held Damon close to her on the floor and she started to edge away from him, tugging Damon's body along with her. The way she was breathing—it reminded him of how he'd felt earlier, only…

Elena wasn't getting better. He watched as it grew harder for her to breathe, and tried to make sense of what was happening. Finally, comprehension dawned. Her hyperventilation, the gasping when the kiss ended, and the way Stefan had knocked Damon out easily. The sound that had led him to the kitchen—it had been their heartbeats.

"You're human." His voice rasped out the accusation, and Elena stared at him with frightened eyes.

Stefan had so many questions. But the hows, the whys, they all disappeared as his nose caught up to his mind. He breathed deeply, and the moment he caught her scent in the air his fangs lengthened, and he saw her now through a haze of red. She was no longer his lost little love, she was food. Whereas he had wanted nothing more than to hold her and stare into her eyes, he couldn't take his eyes off her pulse, and his fangs ached with the need to thrust them into her delicate skin.

How long had it been since he'd eaten? He couldn't even remember…

With horror, he realized that he wouldn't be able to control himself if he gave in. It had been too long of uncontrolled and uncaring feeding. If he bit her now, he would kill her. The pain of the thought almost wasn't enough to shake him free of the stare he'd had locked on her neck, but with the very last strength of his will he managed to turn away and run out of the house as fast as he could.

In town, his will had abandoned him to the frenzy of the hunger. He took the first person he saw, throwing them against the wall and ripping into their throat while they let out a pitiful scream. He loved the way the spray of blood coated his face and ran down his chin, soaking his shirt. He ripped into them again, and again, enjoying how the muscle and skin was no match for his fangs.

Finally, long after they were dead, he let the body fall to the ground. It was a girl, a brunette. He waited for the guilt, or regret, to hit him. It always did, no matter how fiercely lost in the Ripper mind that he was, the guilt was always there. But not today. Today, all he could think about was Elena. He wanted nothing more than to see her again, but he didn't trust himself to go back there. He had to figure out a plan. He turned from the mangled body without thinking, the remains already forgotten.

Damon moaned, and his eyes flickered awake. "Oh!" Elena gasped. "Damon, you're okay," her voice was heavy with emotion. "Matt says you had a concussion, and the sooner you woke up, the less severe it would be." She grabbed him by the sides of his face and kissed him vigorously. Damon moaned, partially at the throbbing pain the motion had caused his brain, and partially because her kissing him always made him hard. "Oh, I'm sorry," Elena pulled back, and Damon almost pulled her on top of himself again, but settled for looping an arm around her waist and smiling up at her. He didn't mind the waking up in aching pain as long as she was always here to nurse him back to health.

His smile faded when he remembered how he got this way. "Stefan." He said grimly.

"We have to do something." Elena helped him up slowly, and went to the living room.

He sat down on the couch and held his head. "You know what we have to do." Elena looked at him, confused. Before she could ask, Matt strode in.

"You both need to clean up. You're covered in—" He paused, "pumpkin guts? And Elena doesn't even have clothes on." He handed her one of his shirts, and some of his sweatpants.

"Oh." Elena said in surprise, the faintest hint of a blush coloring her cheeks. She was starting to regain some of her delicate sensibilities, but they still weren't near what they used to be. "Thank you, Matt." She took his clothes and looked at Damon. "I mean it." His soft, pale blue eyes met hers, and he smiled sweetly. "It's the least I can do." She left Matt and headed for the shower, thinking about how kind he was. He was there immediately after she'd called him about Damon in a panic, and only his reassurance that Damon would be fine could calm her from the panic attack she'd been having.

She took a long shower—30 minutes or so. She knew it was silly, but she felt like if only she escaped long enough, maybe the problem would go away. The problem. Such an innocuous term for what they were dealing with. Her heart ached when she remembered the look on Stefan's face. Sick to her stomach, Elena doubled over, and the contents of her stomach spilled out on the shower floor. She watched the water run it down the drain, and felt dead inside.

There was one time she would have given anything to be told Stefan was still alive, but now she just wished it had all been a distressing dream. The guilt was eating away at her. Not just over what Stefan had seen, the hurt and confusion he was probably experiencing, but over how she'd felt, as well. She loved Damon, there was no doubt in her heart or mind. But seeing Stefan after so long…she wouldn't lie to herself. She wanted to rejoice. She wanted to cry and laugh with elation. She wanted to protect him and never let him out of her sight again.

And that was why she felt so guilty. How could she betray Damon like that? She took a deep breathed and tried to concentrate on the facts. She'd loved Stefan, that was true. She ran away with him, changed for him, and had intended to spend an eternity—literally—with him. She couldn't just turn off those feelings, even if she'd had years to get over him.

But she knew, without a doubt in her mind, that there was no way in hell she could ever leave Damon. She and Stefan fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, but she and Damon were the same _piece._ Without him, she couldn't exist. Once upon a time, she'd felt that way with Stefan. But if she thought love was that strong then, she had a completely new understanding of it now. Damon was her soul mate, and what she experienced with him was a far greater power than anything in her life.

She didn't bother to dry her hair when she was finished, she just tugged on Matt's loose, but comfortable clothes. She was greeted with a surprise when she walked into the living room. Her breath caught.

Caroline and Tyler were sharing the chair. Alaric was by the fireplace. Bonnie and Jeremy were on the couch. Matt sat on floor, crossing legged. Damon was standing by the doorway, waiting for her to return and smiling when he saw her. It was so much like that night when they'd first conspired to work together that Elena almost thought she'd gone back in time. "How—?" She broke off, looking at her friends in wonder, finally turning back to Damon with a bemused smile.

"I called them," Damon smiled and pulled her close in a hug. _And they all came? Even Caroline? And so quickly? _ Elena didn't voice her thoughts; just let the feeling of gratitude and relief flow through her. She didn't have to be alone in this.

"All right, lovebugs, time to start with the planning," Caroline said perkily, clapping her hands to draw attention to herself. Elena thought it best not to mention that Caroline complaining about PDA was a little oxymoronic. "Damon has told us all about the new problem, and I say the best plan is to lure Stefan here, let me hold him down with my superarm, and then you kiss the crap out of him. A human Stefan will be waay easier to deal with, especially if he's really bad as you say when he's on the human juice."

Elena noticed Caroline's arm for the first time. "Oh my god, you're okay!" Elena exclaimed. Her arm was completely fine, and free of the mummy-like bandages that had held it in place the last time Elena had seen her.

"Duh," Caroline rolled her eyes, but couldn't fight the huge grin that spread across her face. "I'm actually better than fine. Bonnie did a spell, and—" Caroline stretched out her arm and admired it, "Let's just say that that whole 'break a bone and it comes back stronger' thing took on a whole new meaning."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "She's about ten times stronger," he explained. Elena looked at Bonnie in surprise, and Bonnie blushed. "But I can still beat her left in an arm wrestle." He said proudly. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"That's great, I'm so glad you're okay, Caroline." Elena said, but made no move towards her. Caroline smiled at her friend's words. "I hate to ruin the light mood, but I have some bad news." Elena started. "I tried kissing him, it didn't work."

There was a collective pause of silence, and then everyone except Matt and Damon began arguing. Matt watched, and listened to them as they demanded to know why, as they cursed their bad luck, as they started to panic, and as Elena hurriedly tried to explain that she was just as lost as them. Matt just watched. He knew there wasn't much he could offer in this situation.

Damon looked up sharply at Elena's news, jealousy biting at him. This was starting to become too regular an occurrence for his liking. He'd tried to tramp it down when he saw her in Matt's clothes, but hearing that she'd recently kissed his brother—her vampire first love—the repressed emotion bubbled to the surface. Fear joined it. _What if she wants him back?_ Damon nearly lost his breath and doubled over at the thought and the pain it caused.

He told himself that the very idea was ridiculous. _After all, why would she be discussing how to deal with Stefan if she only wanted him back? Although, I was out cold. What if she's lying to protect him? I'll kill him before he can touch her…_

But that thought was no help either, as he felt a pain nearly as intense shoot through him. Could he kill his own brother? It was then Damon knew that this situation could never end well. He brought his attention back to the here and now and noticed Elena staring at him expectantly. He voiced the question everyone had already asked: "Why do you think it didn't work?"

Just before Elena could yet again respond with her uncertainties, a familiar accent startled everyone in the room. "Klaus had Stefan spelled against all magic." Rebekah strode to the center of the room, right where she liked to be. Everyone just stared at her, open-mouthed. "I assume that's what you're all talking about?"

Elena edged away from her, and Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to attack you." Everyone still looked unsure. "Look, Elena, I may not like you very much, but I don't care that you killed my brother. He didn't know I knew, but he killed my mother, and I know he was responsible for Elijah. I may have been next if you hadn't stopped him. If I didn't love him so much, I'd have murdered Klaus a long time ago."

Elena decided to take a leap of faith and trust the seemingly-vapid blonde. "What do you mean he was spelled against magic?"

"Exactly what I said, darling. An extremely powerful witch spelled him against any further spells when we were in Chicago." She smiled at some memory.

"We didn't exactly use a spell," Jeremy pointed out, the voice of reason.

"Yes," Rebekah rolled her eyes. "And just how do you suppose Elena's little kiss of death worked?" Everyone looked shocked that she knew so much. "Was it," she paused for effect, "The power of positive thinking?" Her plump lips curled with delight as she mocked them.

"If that were true, why did our magic work on Klaus?" Damon questioned suddenly, mistrust in his eyes.

She looked at him with slanted eyes. "You'll have to tell me that story someday. I should like to hear how a bunch of mortals managed to defeated my brother." Her statement was met with silence and Rebekah sighed and examined her nails. "It never would have occurred to Klaus to try and protect himself. After all, why would he need it?" Her lips twisted into a strange, dark smile. "He saw Stefan as his property, and he wanted to protect his property." She turned to Bonnie, and their cold blue made the weary witch shiver. "And I think he was afraid of you, trying some spell to get Loverboy back."

"If what you're saying is true," Bonnie started shakily, "then we can just find the witch and have her reverse the spell."

"That might be hard." Rebekah shook out her shining blonde hair.

"Why?" Matt asked suddenly, harshly.

Rebekah looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but faced the majority of the group. "She's dead. Stefan didn't take too kindly to the process, and he killed her. I hear it was quite painful."

"The process or her death?" Matt asked.

Rebekah laughed delicately as if he'd made a particularly amusing joke. "Both."

"Will you help us?" Alaric asked the vampire bluntly, knowing she would be an invaluable asset.

"Don't worry, I won't get in the way. I'm leaving very soon. But I don't much feel like taking on Stefan. He just needs to get this out of his system. And, once he kills you all, maybe he'll come back to me." She said cheerfully.

Matt snorted. "If you love someone, let them go, and maybe they'll come back to you. Leaving a bloody trail of carcasses in their wake."

She gave him a dazzling smile. "Precisely. It's not like I don't have time." She walked out of the living room to leave, but Elena caught up with her before she left the house.

"Rebekah!" Elena called, glancing behind her to make sure no one followed. The vampire turned, a curious expression on her face. "I need to know," Elena said in a low voice. "I need to know how Klaus did it. How did he make me think Stefan was dead? Compulsion? Magic?"

"Aren't you with Damon now? Why does it matter?" Elena glared, and Rebekah giggled. "Klaus fed Stefan his blood, and then staked him. You thought he was dead, because he was. He only came back because Klaus made him."

"Klaus's blood can do that?" Elena asked.

Rebekah considered her statement for a moment. "Could." She amended, referring to the fact that her dear brother was dearly departed.

"Why didn't Klaus just compel me?" Elena asked, pained.

"He wanted Stefan to suffer almost as much as he wanted you to." Rebekah got a far off look on her face, and it seemed almost sad. "He always was a bloodthirsty creature." With that, she turned away and walked out of the door, and Elena was left alone with her thoughts.

Stefan paced back and forth, a dark grimace on his face and even darker thoughts filling his head. He'd gotten a girl to invite him into her home, and then he'd slaughtered everyone there. She was such a pretty dark-haired girl. So young. Now she was in pieces. Stefan was still waiting for the guilt.

He hated it in her house. It was full of too many family photos, and the air almost vibrated with good family times. He _hated _it. The only place he could stomach was the basement. He could tell no one came down here regularly. It was dark, and full of cobwebs. There was no need for him to turn on a light, so only the moon shining through the ground-level window gave the room a faint glow.

He felt empty. Like if it weren't for the anger burning through his veins he might collapse. Anger was the only thing he had left. He was furious with everyone, with everything. Most of all he loathed the fact that he still loved Elena. He couldn't get rid of this stupid, flowery, lavender-scented emotion. It didn't matter how much pain it had caused him, and continued to cause him. It was like a virus that itched through his veins and burned far greater than any Vervain could.

And since he couldn't rid of her, she would never be rid of him. That, he vowed.

In a way, it was almost better that she was human. He remembered the way her tender vulnerability drew him in when he'd first met her. Easier to scare, easier to take. This was better. It didn't matter how, Stefan would just make sure she loved him once more. It was how their story always should have gone.

Elena belonged with Stefan. She belonged _to_ him. And if she was too far gone and too confused to stay at his side willingly, he'd just have to make sure she stayed all by himself. It wouldn't be so bad. In the end, she'd see the truth. In the end, she'll know that being together again is the most important thing in the world.

Elena went back into the room hesitantly, not sure of her own feelings at the moment. It had been a relief to know that she hadn't been tricked by some two-bit compulsion. She couldn't possibly have known that Stefan was still alive, and there wasn't anything she could've done.

Elena was also terrified that Stefan couldn't be reasoned with. If she couldn't get him to see their side…She really didn't want to be responsible for his death. Again. And worse, if something happened to one of her friends while they fought—if something happened to Damon!—she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about how to act around the others. They were all so busy arguing with themselves after Rebekah's little bombshell that no one paid her any attention. While the noise was loud and relentless to her already aching head, she was grateful.

She looked at Damon to see how his head was holding up—after all he was recently injured—and saw he was arguing just as vehemently as the rest. From what she could gather, he was arguing with Tyler over the logic of killing Stefan. Caroline was arguing with Alaric and Bonnie while Jeremy desperately tried to play peacemaker. To no avail.

Elena took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She just needed to listen to her friends at the moment, to be reassured that they were all alright. She hated that they were arguing, but she loved hearing all of their—"Matt!" Her eyes flew open and desperately ate at the room that rapidly fell into focus as she searched every corner. "Matt!" She yelled again, her voice taking on a strangled tone.

He could just be in the bathroom, but—no. There was an anxious, panicked feeling in Elena's stomach. She knew something had happened to him. Everyone had looked at her in surprise at her cry. "Where is Matt?" She demanded of her friends, hoping against all hope they would inform her he had just gone to the kitchen to grab a coke.

That didn't happen though. Her friends all looked around in relative surprise as they noticed that he was indeed gone. But none of them had her frightened air just yet. After all, what could have happened in such a short period of time? And in the safety of the house? No, he was probably fine, just gone off to get aspirin or something.

Elena pulled out her phone and fought against her desperation as her fingers clumsily dialed Matt. She grew more and more destitute as each ring passed and he didn't answer. Finally, she heard a click and Elena held her breath.

"Hello?"

Elena stood there with her mouth open in shock. Her friends didn't know what to make of it, as they couldn't hear what she had. The prettily-accented hello. "If you hurt him…" Elena growled in a low tone.

"Relax!" She heard the Rebekah's tinkling laughter over the phone, and could just imagine her head thrown delicately back with delight. "He's perfectly fine, and _happy_," she added emphasis on the word, "to be with me. In fact, he's probably a lot safer with me, given Stefan's on the loose and all. Poor boy could use a break."

"Put. Him. On." Elena's vision faded to black as she concentrated on nothing but the voice coming through on the phone.

Rebekah must have handed it over without argument, because the next thing Elena heard was Matt's mildly surprised "Hello?"

Elena's knees almost gave out. "Matt," his name poured from her lips, relief and affection clearly evident in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I didn't know you would notice I was gone so soon."

"Of course I would Matt!" Elena exclaimed.

There was a pause. "It's alright, Elena. I know I'm not any use there. And I know you guys might get hurt worrying about me. I don't want you to. I just want to get out of the way with Rebekah."  
>"Rebekah? Are you insane? Is she compelling you?" Elena cried in confusion.<p>

"Elena, you know I'm Vervained. She couldn't if she wanted to."

"Still! She could be holding you at gunpoint for all I know—!"

She heard Matt sigh. "Elena, please trust me. This is something I need to do. Just let it be." And with that, the cell clicked: call disconnected.

Elena stood frozen for a moment. _What do I do now?_


	20. Spell

**A/N: Okay, first of all, POV shift, hope it doesn't give anyone whiplash ;)**

**Second, thank you so much Pokinmju; I loved the review and it inspired me, as you will definitely be able to tell.**

Matt. My rock. Maybe I hadn't realized it before, but I sure did now. I felt his absence as acutely as if someone had ripped out my small intestines and handed them to me. He'd been teaching me how to be human, even before I'd made the transformation back to one. He was one of the only two reasons I can even function around people after my years-long seclusion.

I should be going after him right now. I should have left the second I heard Rebekah's voice over the phone. The only thing that's stopping me right now is the fact that _if_ Matt is safe with Rebekah, he is a lot safer than here where Stefan is back with a vengeance. Well, that and reason number two. Damon and I need to talk.

But first thing's first: "Bonnie, can you do a spell to locate Matt and make sure he's all right?" I hug my midsection because I feel sick. I'm not sure I should even ask her, if it's even okay.

Luckily, she's fine with it. Better than fine, she's eager. We all gather, kneeling, around the table that rests across from the sofa. Damon finds a candle from a desk drawer, and brings it to her. It's the only thing she says she needs. We're right across from each other, and that gives me the perfect opportunity to examine her.

She gets to work right away, chanting something so low I can't hear. It's a spell unlike anything I've ever seen. She's swaying in an almost-dance, and smoke from the candle is curving around her. It reminds me of a mist-demon caressing a lover.

Just then it strikes me how beautiful she is. She was a knockout when we were young, but now she looks even better. She's curvier, and she has the sexiest laugh lines that I'm jealous of, because I know that even when I'm her age, mine won't look as good. She's wearing a robin's egg blue tank top and snug blue jeans that hug her as she swerves in tune to whatever she's saying.

I look over to see Jeremy staring at her. His lips are slightly parted and his eyes are clouded, but not because of the smoke. He's as entranced as if the spell were for him. I smirk, because some things never change. I glance at Damon and see he's just as bewitched, but try to remember what happened at the strip club. I really am learning.

I look over sharply as I notice a hitch in her low voice. Her eyes seem almost scared, they're so wide. Suddenly, they turn white, and almost as instantaneously, there's a flash of red. I gasp, because my friends have disappeared, until it's just me and Bonnie kneeling by the old wooden table. I'm trying to call out to her, but I can't speak. Then, I hear her voice over my head as if someone's playing it in surround sound. "Look, Elena." I'm looking at her and her lips aren't moving. I see her point to something behind me.

I turn and see Matt through a haze of misty red. I'm a little startled, because it looks like they're about to drive right into us, but it's only a vision of them, nothing more. They're both talking and then they break out into laughter, but I can't hear a word they're saying. She made him laugh? This irritates me, and I wish I could hear what they were saying, but then I feel myself falling back to reality, away from the strange world of smoky red portals.

"He's fine," I breathe to reassure myself as my world comes back into focus. My ears are popping like they do when I used to dive too deep into a pool.

"Elena?" Damon has hind hand on my shoulder and is looking at me with relief.

_What's wrong…_I want to ask, but Bonnie beats me to it.

Jeremy's looking at her with relief that's nearly identical to Damon's. "You guys both stopped talking and kind of tranced out for a while. We didn't know what to do."

"How come you guys didn't see it?" I ask.

Bonnie looks up at me, and some strange speculation is in her eyes. "Honestly, Elena, I'm surprised you could see it. I didn't think it was possible to share visions like that with non-witches."

I didn't really want to continue that line of thought, so I glanced away and tried to change the subject. "It's late you guys…you should probably stay here tonight, at least until the sun comes up. With Stefan out there…" I can tell it freaks everyone out, and as subject-changers go, it isn't a bad one.

"That's great," Tyler says sarcastically, "because it's not like he has a daylight ring _and _can enter this house anytime he wants." Caroline elbows him in the stomach and he shuts up.

I sigh, because I really haven't thought of that. "He's right." I tell them all. "It's no safer here than anywhere else. You're better off somewhere else actually. Somewhere far away from me, and somewhere he can't get in." The thought of them leaving depresses me a little, but I know it's for their own good.

"Yeah right, Elena." Bonnie comes over from across the table and sits next to me, throwing an arm over me. "Like we'd leave now. Besides, strength in numbers."

"I think we can also remedy that little entrance problem," Damon understates, smirking. "All we have to do is resign the deed in one of our names Elena. We're both human now." He gives me a smoldering look that somehow makes it feel like he's not using human as the word I'm familiar with, but rather some dark and secret word he's promising to show me later. I meet his gaze with an equal intensity. I've been feeling so much other stuff—fear, worry, anxiety—that it's a relief to get back to good-old fashioned lust.

"You guys should get some sleep." I say softly, trying not to betray the need in my voice. "Damon and I will handle the paperwork."

They're all too eager for sleep, or something else as the case may be, and they file out of the room, leaving Damon and I next to each other on the floor by the table. He leans towards me with a devilish grin I can't help but reciprocate, but I pull back at the last possible moment. "I almost forgot. We should really talk." He pulls back, and I can see that he's surprised, maybe even a little worried.

"Sure. I'll just get the deed." He quickly goes over to the desk where the candle was and pulls out a paper from its massive drawer. He comes back and sits on the couch, farther from me than before. I raise myself from the floor to sit beside him. I'm not sure why he's being so distant.

Maybe he's just as freaked out about this as me. Hell, he probably has way more reason to be freaked out than I do! His long-lost vampire brother has returned for his long-lost girlfriend and in the process gives him a concussion. Not to mention…we may have to kill Stefan if he's beyond saving.

Which is why we need to talk. I can't just leave it at that. I need to know what Damon's feeling right now. I need to know he's okay, and if he's not I am going to make him okay. Whatever it takes. "Hey," I say uselessly, because, okay let's face it: I don't know what the fuck I can say that can make any of this okay.

He wordlessly hands me the document and I sign it with a roll of my eyes. Fine. We'll get business out of the way now. It just means he won't have it to distract our conversation later. "How are you?" I ask, and I know it's the stupidest, most clichéd thing I could possibly ask him, but there's nothing else I can ask.

He takes his sweet time answering, making a big deal out of stowing the paper back in the desk drawer before he sits back on the couch. "My head feels a lot better." He says lightly, with a sardonic roll of his eyes.

It's frustrating, to experience this new—old—attitude of his. I can't figure out what has him acting like this. "You know that's not what I meant." I said it more out of frustration than anything else, but his eyes snap up with anger.

"Just spit it out!" He growls angrily, although I think he's the one spitting venom.

"What's your problem?" I ask, tears threatening. I don't know if they're sad or angry tears. Maybe they're both.

He whips around to face me, blue eyes shining fiercely, and grabs my shoulders so roughly I'm startled. He hasn't touched me like that since we've become human again. "You love him." He accuses. "That's my problem." He says it quietly, dangerously, and his hands tighten on me.

My mouth falls in shock. That's what this was about? "Damon, of course I love him…" His face falls and his hands drop, numb. He looks away from me, desperately trying not to feel anything. "Damon!" I cry, startled by his response. I pull him towards me and he looks at me with blue eyes of infinite sadness. I'm not sure if I prefer that to the numb look. "Damon, of course I love him, but you know that it's completely over right? I mean, look at me now! I'm with you, not him. I'll always be with you." I'm trying to convince him, and I can tell he wants to believe it, but he squashes his hope down and looks away again. "I love you, Damon." I climb into his lap, and he remains lifeless beneath me. Maybe if words can't convince him…

I kiss him quickly, desperately. His lips are motionless beneath mine. I start to cry and kiss him again, hitting his chest as I try to elicit a response. He does nothing, so I hit his chest again, almost sobbing now. He grabs my weak fists before I can try again, a hint of anger in his eyes. "Do you mean it?" He asks suddenly, almost to himself.

I kiss him again, his hands still holding mine. His lips delicately move against mine, unsure. I pull away to breath and rest my forehead against his. "I'd die before I left you. I'd kill before I let anything keep us apart."

"Don't talk like that." He whispers, moving his face up to meet my lips once more. And in that instant I know it's true. I may not be a vampire anymore, but I will kill if I have to. I will be bloodthirsty, merciless, more fearsome than I ever could have been as a vampire. No one will ever get between us.

Nothing else enters my head as we move desperately against each other on the couch. We're less gentle, more forceful than we've been before. We make love without worry of hurting each other or using too much force, just enjoying each other's skin. And it's glorious. I've never loved the contours of his naked body more, never felt the firm ridges of his muscles with more adoration or appreciation. His strong hands on me have never felt as perfect as they do now. I never want it to end.

It does, and the after is almost as sweet. I'm lying naked on top of him, blissfully exhausted. I'm tracing patterns on his pale chest and smiling even though I'm not trying. I hate myself for bringing it up, but I have to know he's okay. "I was worried…about how you'd react about Stefan. He's your brother, and we might have to…" I cut off, because I'm too scared to say it. "He's your brother, no matter what." I say helplessly.

He takes so long to answer I start to hold my breath. "Elena. I'm not sure he's been my brother for a long time." His voice is low and pained. I look up to see him looking off into the distance with pain clearly on his face. He slowly looks back to me and gives me a pained smile. "It won't be fun, but we'll do what we have to. I can do what needs to be done." His blue eyes are sad and reassuring.

My breath catches and the air escapes my lounges. I crawl forward on his body and kiss him. My hand finds his. I want to say, _you and me, forever,_ but I can't find the words. I'm too choked up. I know he understands, though. His hand tightens around mine and we fall asleep on the couch.


	21. Stalker

**A/N: Sorry, I really thought this would have been up sooner, but it didn't come as easily as I thought it would. I even had to break out a pen and paper! I hope it doesn't suck (see what I did there:). As always, let me know what you think!**

"This whole stalking business is rather overrated." Stefan drawled, leaning against a tree. Elena cautiously stepped out of the door to the mansion, eyeing him with fear. "Baby, you changed the locks." Stefan stepped closer to her. "I'm hurt." His eyes were dancing as he smirked.

Elena backed up, but Stefan zoomed forward to stop her. He was so close the lapel of his jacket touched her chest. He dipped his head and Elena froze with fear. He gently nuzzled her nose with his own. Elena felt the wall behind her and wondered if she turned fast enough, could he still get her before she reached the door?

"Elena," Damon stepped out of the house. His voice was angry and tight. He'd been watching from the windows. Stefan kept his face near hers. Elena started to edge away, but Stefan's hands came up to clasp her shoulders in an unbreakable hold. "Let go of her." Damon warned.

Stefan's head came up suddenly and he growled at Damon, his eyes red and his fangs bared. "Careful," he said in a thick voice, "I won't hurt her, but I can't say the same for you."

Elena finally spoke. "You'll stay away from my friends, or I'll—"

"Relax, sweetheart," Stefan said in a soothing voice, rubbing his hands up and down her shoulders. "I wouldn't dream of hurting you. In any way. And if that means you want your little friends alive and well, for now, that's fine." His eyes were green again as he gazed at her lovingly.

"I will always want them alive and well." Elena said bravely, but her voice shook.

Stepping away from her, he grinned and rolled his eyes. "Scout's Honor." He tried to look innocent as he saluted but he couldn't quite hide his sarcastic smile.

Elena kept her eye on him as she moved towards Damon's red car. After all, that was the whole point of venturing out of the house. None of them had left since they'd realized Stefan took up permanent residence in the foliage outside. They knew he was dangerous.

They'd finally agreed someone had to go outside. They couldn't live without groceries forever. Elena had argued hours with them over it. They knew it was her Stefan was after. That was why it would be safest if she were the one to make the food run. It had taken them an agonizing week of near-starvation for them to see her side. Their house had not been stocked well to begin with (after all, Elena and Damon were newbie humans), but after seven days in a house of five people, one werewolf, and one vampire, their meager food supply was exhausted.

Now that Damon was already out of the house, he followed her to the car. It wasn't a part of her plan, but Elena welcomed the company. Especially with Stefan staring at them as they drove off. He stayed situated in front of the house, and Elena worried he wouldn't stay true to his word. If any of her friends got hurt…She didn't know what she'd do.

As Elena drove, she felt guilty for enjoying this small bit of freedom. While her friends were cooped up inside, she was getting a welcome reprieve from the sense of cabin fever in the mansion. And of all her friends, she was the one who didn't deserve it. It was her fault all this was happening in the first place. She parked and got out of the car, worry still etched on her face.

"Hey," Elena felt Damon's hand on the small of her back. "I can tell you're feeling guilty. Don't. This was Klaus, not you."

His voice sounds so sure that Elena could almost believe him. "I just want to live a normal life with you, especially now that we have the proper equipment."

Damon grinned. "Oh, you mean a beating heart, a lovely home, and kickass friends?"

Elena nodded, smiling, as she grabbed a cart.

"Well, let's pretend." Damon took the cart from her and raced away, one foot propelling him forward.

"Pretend what?" Elena yelled after him through her laughter.

He did a spin and the cart hurdled toward her. He stopped just short of her. Her arms were crossed and her eyebrows were raised as she waited for his answer. 'That we are just a normal human couple, enjoying each other's company as we shop for food for our voracious friends." He offered her his hand.

Elena smiled, walked towards him, but snuck under his arm at the last second. She took off, her hair flowing in the wind as the metal shopping cart sped towards the automatic doors of the supermarket.

Their plan had worked perfectly, up to a point. Troubles had been forgotten, and fun had been had—at the supermarket, of all places. At least, until they'd returned to find Stefan in the same spot he'd been in when they left.

They had bags and bags to carry—definitely more than one trips' worth. "Do you need any help?" Stefan offered sweetly.

"No thanks." Elena bit back.

He helped them anyway, carrying bags and putting them right next to the doorway. "I could really be a much bigger help if you'd let me in." He kept his face and voice sincere, but Elena kicked in the rest of the bags at the doorway that she couldn't carry, and shut the door on his offer.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them only to share a deep look with Damon. Something had to be done. She looked down then. But for now, groceries.

* * *

><p>Elena was cleaning up the kitchen table. It was ridiculous that the kitchen in the mansion was so small. It was probably due to the fact that it was a mansion, and the occupants would usually take their meals in the grand dining room. She rolled her eyes as she pictured Damon sitting at a grand table while servants toiled away as they brought him food.<p>

The kitchen's small size hadn't really mattered anyway. Her friends seemed not to mind that the kitchen was made for four people at the most. They'd enjoyed a meal together and it was sort of cozy. Caroline, Tyler, and Alaric had to stand, but they did so graciously.

Bonnie's cooking put everyone in a better mood. Elena was honestly amazed that one meal could use so many ingredients. Her specialty was more…microwaveable. She endeavored to learn some of Bonnie's secrets.

Bonnie's cooking also had everyone blissfully content and sleepy. The kitchen was empty save for Elena as she cleaned up the table. Even Damon was waiting for her in bed, probably already asleep. But she wouldn't count on it, the man did have an uncanny knack for knowing just when to wake up in order to seduce her.

Just as she was throwing some crumbs from the table into the garbage, she saw something strange in the trash, half buried. She bit her lip, suddenly afraid. She couldn't say what made her pull it free from the waste basket. It was this morning's paper. Elena sat down with tears in her eyes as she read.

"A recent rash of murders has devastated the small town of Mystic Falls…the bodies have been viciously mutated…five victims so far…the police have no suspects…"

She was near hyperventilating. Even the council hadn't been able to keep this quiet. Why had Damon not told her? She had a right to know. _Oh, god. This is Stefan. I know it._ What bothered her more than anything…the papers hadn't said anything about the bodies being reassembled. Stefan, even at his most vicious, had _always_ tried to put them back together. She had to stop him, because he might not make it back from this binge.

* * *

><p><strong>3 A.M.<strong>

Elena was still not asleep. How could she have slept, knowing what she did? If she even tried, horrible thoughts about mangled victims filled her head. It was a strange restlessness that kept her body from the blissful escape of sleep. It was the strangest restlessness that Elena had ever felt. Fear, worry, guilt, anger all twisted around each other like snakes coiled in the pit of her stomach.

She rolled over on her side to watch Damon as he slept. It was dark in the room, but Elena could still see his outline well enough. His chest rose and fell with each soft snore. He never snored as a vampire, and Elena cherished the noise. Usually, when Elena had trouble sleeping, she could just watch Damon. The rhythmic sound and sight of his breathing was enough of a lullaby to work Elena into an almost-trance, until she fell peacefully into sleep. But not tonight.

He looked like he could sleep through anything, but that was not the case. Often, if Elena got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he would wake up with an expression that bordered on affront. He never liked for her to leave him. The only time he slept soundlessly was right after they made love—something about the male in him ensured that he all but passed out after sex.

Elena couldn't help a naughty smile as she crawled atop him. He gave a low groan of weak protest. That stopped when her hand gently slid to his boxers. His eyes flew open and Elena grinned. Even in the dark, the blue of his eyes was her favorite color.

One of her legs slid itself between his so she could rock her hips against his obliques with a pleasing effect. She strained against him, just as restless physically as she was mentally. She tugged their thin sheet away from his body, knowing she would find bare skin underneath. She was right. He only ever wore his boxers to bed. Growling, she let her hands sweep over his chest. She wanted to take her time feeling his muscles, but she was so desperate for more that her caress was frantic.

He must still have been half-asleep, because he did little more than make small, pleased noises as she moved impatiently above him. When his hands finally moved up to capture her waist, she hastily pushed his strong biceps to his side. He was so surprised and intrigued that he submitted wordlessly.

Elena settled over him, all the while tracing her fingers past his delightfully v shaped stomach down to his boxers. She heard his breath catch and nothing had ever sounded sexier. Without bothering to tug his boxers off, Elena slid him through the slot in his bottoms and stroked him frenziedly.

She was relieved to find him at full attention. Grinding her bottom into him had served its purpose. She, too, did not wear much to bed. She slipped up her short silk nightgown to her waist and positioned herself above Damon. There was no need to worry about her underwear. Damon had seen to that offensive garment when she'd first gone to bed.

She moaned out his name as she sank down onto him. He always fit, but it never failed to amaze her how _full_ she felt each time. She rode him as he lay there. Whenever she thrust into him, she felt him raise his hips a little to meet her, as if he couldn't help himself. Otherwise, he seemed content to let her do all the work.

It didn't take long for her to feel that familiar sensation. She wanted nothing more than to ride him until she exploded around him and cried out his name. However, she had to make sure that he got there, too. She panted his name and grabbed his hands. She pressed them against her breasts as if she were starved for his touch. His hands moved to squeeze obligingly and he sighed his pleasure.

Elena leaned down to kiss him, one hand tugging his dark hair and holding him in place. He tried to capture her mouth once again when it left his, but she tugged him away by the hair. She moved her mouth to his neck and bit down without warning.

It was a little harder than she'd intended, but it had the desired effect. He cried out her name and she pumped her hips furiously into him so that they both came at the same time. She rested with her head dipped onto his chest while her aftershocks faded. Then, she tipped sideways, one arm and one leg still draped over him so that she fell lying at his side.

She could tell, even in the dim light, that he was smiling at her. "What was that for?" He asked, pleased.

She only kissed him in response, as she was still breathing somewhat heavily. He seemed to accept this as an answer, and his eyes closed.

In no time at all, he was asleep. She brushed the hair from his forehead and slowly got out of bed.

Barefoot, Elena made her way downstairs and stepped outside. Goosebumps appeared when she felt a light breeze. She was only wearing her short nightgown and the material was thin. She briefly wondered if she should have taken the time to put on something more appropriate.

"Stefan." She called out softly, knowing he was somewhere in the darkness of the trees. Sure enough, he stepped free of the shadows. When he got his first good look at her, and she at him, she was taken aback by the joy she saw in his eyes. That much joy, just from seeing her. It made her uncomfortable. Suddenly, she was at a loss for words. All the suave and smooth conversations she'd gone over in her head a thousand times fled. Finally, desperately, she asked, "Why are you here?"

He knew at once what she meant. "To get you back." He said with some surprise, as if he couldn't believe she didn't already know.

Elena noted with amazement that he meant it. She could tell. He actually thought he could get her back! Time had affected them differently, changing her and trapping him. She backed away, yet again speechless. "We're perfect," she heard his whisper as it carried to her on the breeze. She shuddered.

She turned to leave, but he was back in front of her in an instant. "Elena…" he took her shoulders gently. _Why does everyone always grab me by the shoulders? _she wondered absently. "If you come with me, I'll leave them. I'll leave this whole town alone. Damon, your brother, your friends, they'll be safe from me. Just tell me you'll leave with me." He went to his knees, still holding her hands.

"N-no," Elena stuttered. "No. I can't do that to them. To Damon. I love them too much." She left the obvious unsaid: she loved Stefan too little to do as he pleaded.

Stefan jerked from her like her skin was covered with vervain. He stood and tore at his hair. His eyes were furious. "You'll come with me. It doesn't matter to me whether or not your friends are still alive when you do."

Elena grew cold. "I don't think this is a fight you're ready for, Stefan," she warned him darkly. He backed away from her further. He looked so pained that Elena felt a small twinge of pity. "If you're so desperate, why don't you kidnap me?" It was a question that had honestly bothered her.

He looked up at her, and his face was unreadable. "I'm not desperate, just patient. I'm waiting until you realize your mistakes, and you make the right decision. When you leave with me, you'll leave of your own choice." He was so sure, so sure of his fantasy outcome.

Elena's earlier drop of pity turned into a torrent. It just won't happen, and he still hadn't realized it. She walked back into the house wordlessly. He was dangerous and delusional. For some reason, having her suspicions confirmed hadn't helped her sleep that night.


	22. Surprise!

**Elena**

It's been a month of the Stefan siege. It's what we call it—a joke—but it couldn't be more serious. The body count has only been climbing, and Stefan shows no signs of slowing down or stopping. That's what prompted Bonnie to find a spell. _The _spell. If this one doesn't work, I don't know what will.

We were all in the living room discussing it. I guess this place was sort of like our office now. The place where we have our meetings. The place where we wonder if this is the hair-brained scheme we don't make it back from.

Bonnie was, again, at the head of the small coffee table. A spell book was open next to her. She was telling the group something, but I was lost in my own thoughts as I surveyed my friends. We were all grouped up. Jeremy had his arm around Bonnie. Caroline was in Tyler's lap. Even I held Damon's hand. Alaric was the only one alone. I wondered if he was as acutely aware of his loneliness as I was.

I don't think he was. He was listening to Bonnie intently—something I should have been doing, too. "Since magic won't affect him, most of the spells I found were useless." I heard Bonnie say as I suddenly tuned in. "So I had to think outside the box." The beginnings of a smile formed on her face, and Jeremy gave her a proud look. "I found a spell that _won't _affect Stefan, just the atmosphere around him."

"What does that mean?" Alaric asked, his face hard. Elena couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled. It could have been years for the frown lines on his face.

Jeremy answered for her. Clearly, she'd talked to him about it beforehand. "It will slow time down around Stefan, so he won't be as fast. It should disorient him long enough for us to—" Jeremy looked at Damon, unsure if he should continue.

"Kill him," Damon finished, nodding. "Good work, Bonnie." I saw her give him a little smile. I was the only one who possibly could have known how he felt. I felt his hand clench at mine just a little tighter. I kissed him on the shoulder and he visibly relaxed.

"We need to figure out what our plan will be. It's not like we can just jump him and yell surprise." I don't know if I should feel bad that whenever I hear Caroline talk, I'm surprised at the authority and wisdom she appears to have now.

"Well, why break a strategy that isn't broken?" I asked them, speaking for the first time. I was referring to the fact that I'd gone outside of the house three times now and he hadn't hurt me. I held all of their attention.

Alaric was the first to break the silence and say what they were all thinking. "Elena, it's too dangerous. I can't let you risk your life _again _for all of us." He still feels responsible for me.

I knew this argument was coming. And I knew they would lose it. They always did. "I think it's safe to say that I'm the safest one out there. Stefan may be crazy, but at least he's faithful. He won't hurt me." I could feel Damon draw in air next to me, but I spoke again before he got the chance. "I draw him out, Bonnie does the spell, and someone stakes him. It's simple." I try to be as matter of fact about it as possible, because I really don't want this argument to be so drawn out as all the others.

"Who gets to stake him?" Tyler asked, suddenly very alert. I can see Caroline's irritation and can almost tell by the look on her face she's thinking _typical wolf male_.

In fact, all of the males suddenly seem at full attention. I'm afraid they'll start bickering over who gets to kill Stefan. I don't know if Damon really wants to hear how eager they all are to shove a sharpened wooden implement through Stefan's heart.

Besides, I know how Damon feels about this without asking. If we have to kill his brother, he doesn't want anyone to do it but him. I understand why he feels that way, but it causes me no small amount of grief and worry.

It's for that reason I try to avoid the debate between my friends. "I think we should all carry stakes." I say, and before anyone can ask why, I continue, "that way whoever can get to Stefan first can…do it." It's a weak, lame figure of speech for what I mean, but I can't really bring myself to say the words. In some ways I think I'm weaker than Damon. That I might not be as ready to let go of Stefan as he is. Stefan is his brother, but there was a time when I considered Stefan my soulmate. My lover, my husband, my maker. There was a time I lived for him. There was a time when I thought I would kill myself because of his absence. The wrongness of ending his life hit me like a brick sometimes. Like today.

"That's good!" Bonnie hastens to agree with me. Bless her, this will make the plan go much more smoothly. "The spell isn't guaranteed to completely stop Stefan, and this way if the first person who gets to him is unable to stake him, we'll have someone for backup right behind the first person." Her mood seems slightly lighter when she's finished. Now she can focus on the spell.

"When is this all going to happen?" Caroline asked. "We've got a plan, but we don't really have a timeline." _Caroline, when did you get to be so damn reasonable?_

It was Damon who answered. "As soon as possible." His voice didn't waver, and he didn't hesitate. I've never loved him more than in that moment. He was so strong, when by all rights he would have been justified being a blubbering idiot.

"I only need a few hours to prepare the spell." Bonnie said helpfully.

"I think we could all use a little rest—how about tomorrow morning?" Alaric suggested.

"He's got a ring, so it's not like it should matter what time of day," Tyler added, "but it does seem like it might give the humans among us more of an advantage if it were daylight and not dark outside."

And so it was agreed. We would do it tomorrow morning. In some ways, I thought it was unusually cruel to give us one whole night to lie awake and ponder what we were about to do. Rest was not to come to Damon and me. We were too afraid for what the sun would bring. It seemed like we couldn't get away from death. It followed us, making a happy, normal, _human_ life feel unattainable.

I was listening to him breathe again, but this time not in sleep. He was just as awake as I was. I wondered what was going on between those wide-open blue eyes. Finally he said, "Get some sleep, Elena. You are a crucial part of the plan." He frowned. "You are the plan."

I ignored him. Like I could sleep! He knew better than that, and he knew that was how I felt, too. "What are you thinking about?" I asked him quietly.

I heard him sigh. He didn't say anything for a long time. I had almost forgotten I'd asked him a question when he answered. "I was thinking about when we were younger." I didn't say anything. He was talking about Stefan and himself. "There was this quarry—it's dried up now, but back then it was huge and deep. We would go swimming with the other neighborhood kids. My dad would always tell me 'keep Stefan away from the quarry wall.' That was where it was deepest, and Stefan was too young to swim that well." Damon paused. "Stefan always hated that rule. So did I. I was older, and all my friends and I would want to swim where it was deeper. Every time we went, I would abandon Stefan at the shallow end to go with my friends and I would warn him away." He nuzzled his face in my hair. "One day, I heard him scream. He'd tried to follow me, but couldn't stay afloat so far from the bottom. It must have been twenty feet deep where he was! I never swam so fast in my life. One second he was kicking and screaming so harshly I thought we would both drown for sure. And then he was limp. That was scarier than anything. I got him back to shore and slapped him on the back—CPR wasn't so common back then. He coughed up the water, and I was beyond relieved." He gave a half-laugh.

"It wasn't your fault." I told him, my hand going up to tangle in his hair. "It _isn't_ your fault."

He didn't seem to really be listening. "For the longest time, I thought he'd gone out there to follow me. I figured he was just tired of being left on his own by the shore. It wasn't until a long time after I realized that he just wanted to know that I would save him." Damon held her close and I felt him sob, just once. I felt myself cry, too. This time, there was no saving Stefan.

* * *

><p>Elena took great care with her outfit that morning. Maybe she thought that if she somehow chose just the right clothes, everything would go fine. No one would get hurt, they would finally stop Stefan, and they could all have their normal lives. If only Elena could find the proper shirt!<p>

At first, she thought the red strapless tank would be perfect. But then she thought the red seemed too bloody a color. And she couldn't wear the light blue tee! What would that say about her? That she was just some happy go lucky fool who didn't understand the seriousness of everything.

Finally, she settled on a black tank top with jean shorts. It was a plainer look than she usually liked, but today it was perfect. Black was the right color, for it was a funeral, in a way.

Elena remembered kissing Damon that morning, like she did every day, but the rest of the day was a blur. She spoke to her friends, but she wasn't sure about what. She couldn't take her mind off of the plan. She was going to go out and head for the car like she always did. Only this time, she would stop and call Stefan's name. He would come to her and Bonnie would activate the spell, leaving Stefan vulnerable. It would work! If only Elena's nerves could catch up with her fear.

Elena did not let her friends see her fear or nerves. She was determined to stay strong for them. She stepped out of the door, and the sun surprised her. It should not have been shining so bright on a day like today. She walked to the car quickly, head down, like she'd done on trips previously.

Only this time she paused, as if she felt someone watching her. Which of course, she always did. Her hand on the car door, she slowly lifted her head. "Stefan?" She'd meant to call out loudly, but her voice came out as a quiet croak of a whisper, betraying her fear and unease.

He heard her anyway.

Elena's breath hitched as she felt him wrap arms of steel around her waist. She broke out in goose bumps when she felt his lips close to her ear. Elena fought panic at his proximity. He must have been able to sense that something was up. Their plain wouldn't work if he stayed like this. Elena knew Bonnie wouldn't risk the spell when he was so close to her.

He moved his mouth even closer. "I'm getting tired of being patient," Stefan whispered. Elena shivered. "I've been thinking about what you said…maybe all you wanted after all was for me to take you. Why else would you have mentioned it?"

Elena ceased her pointless struggles when she realized he was talking about the kidnapping. His arms tightened around her until she wasn't sure she could breathe. He dragged her backwards, towards the woods, and Elena was so terrified she couldn't even fight back.

Elena heard the mansion door burst open and saw Damon come running out. He was shouting something, but Elena was too preoccupied with Stefan to register his words. He was far enough away that Elena knew he wouldn't get to her in time. Not if Stefan decided to kill her. Not if Stefan decided to take her.

Stefan didn't seem to be paying Damon any attention, either. He'd stilled. His nose buried itself deep in her hair. She felt, more than heard, him take in her scent. He spun her around in his arms swiftly. "Why do you smell like that?" His eyes were wide and wild, an undercurrent of fury in his question.

Stefan looked down at her stomach and they realized it at the same time. _A baby._ Shell-shocked, he let go of her. Elena stumbled away, into Damon's arms. His arms went around her protectively, and she held him closer. Her eyes never left Stefan's. She saw his eyes fill with confusion, but mostly hurt. He ran away without looking back, and Elena lost the strength to stand.

Damon carried her into the house. He carefully set her down on the couch and sat beside her. His hands hovered over her restlessly. "Are you okay?" He ran his hand through her hair. It might have been sweet, but Elena knew he was only checking for blood or bumps. He examined her arms, mindful of the last time Stefan grabbed her there. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Elena was still too shocked to answer him.

All of her friends surrounded her where she was laid back on the couch. Bonnie was near tears. "I'm so sorry, Elena! But I couldn't do the spell—not when he was so close to you!" Near tears turned to definitely _in _tears. Jeremy held her as she cried into his shoulder.

Alaric was passing back and forth, running his hand through his hair and gripping a stake. "Why isn't she talking?" Caroline demanded. Tyler worked her shoulders soothingly, but his eyes were intense as he surveyed the scene.

_How could this happen? _She wondered. They'd only been human for what—a few months? They never had used contraception…Elena just hadn't remembered. It hadn't been a problem when she was a vampire…And she couldn't remember the last time she'd actually _had _her period, so not getting one the past few months hadn't struck her as odd at all. She didn't spare one thought for _any_ of it. _This can't be happening!_

Damon was still fussing at her, probably wondering why she wasn't talking. She pushed away his hands and sat up. "I-" Elena meant to say something else entirely, but what came out was, "I'm going to be sick!" And then she promptly threw up on Damon's lap. She really wished she hadn't had breakfast now.

Damon was shock-still for a moment, his mouth open, and his pants smelly and disgusting. Elena moaned and lay back down. "Honey, I don't know if I told you this, but I'm _not _an emetophiliac." Elena looked at him. He had a devilish grin and his eyes were shinning.

"I don't even know what that is." Elena told him. He didn't elaborate. "Great, so when I'm fine you're all mother hen, but when I'm actually sick you make fun of me!" Elena complained.

"Sorry," He kissed her on the mouth. "But you're so cute when you're sick." He whispered.

Elena turned her face away. "My mouth is all pukey!"

"You could have leprosy, Elena. It wouldn't matter."

"Ew!" Bonnie exclaimed. Elena whipped her head around at Bonnie. She saw Bonnie had said it in relation to something she was reading on her phone, not Damon's words. She relaxed a little, her momentary irritation diffusing.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Elena asked, "What is it?"

Bonnie looked up grimly. "I looked up emetophilia."

Damon laughed, and Elena decided, given her weak constitution, that maybe she didn't want to know. He left to change clothes.

Caroline handed her a glass of water retrieved from the kitchen. "What happened Elena?"

"Yeah, Stefan's never done that before." Jeremy added, looking at her as if he could figure everything out if only he stared at his sister hard enough.

Elena realized that they didn't know. That she would have to _tell_ them. If she thought the words weren't coming before, it was a million times worse now. She sat back up, slower this time. "Well, he was talking about taking me." Elena started, talking slowly. She saw Caroline's mouth drop open. Elena rolled her eyes. "As in _kidnapping_, Caroline."

"Oh," Caroline said, calmer this time. She saw everyone staring at her, and added, "Well, that's still really bad, of course!" A small smile played on Tyler's lips as he looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"Um, I don't know if he would have." Elena added, looking down and playing with the hem of her shirt. "But he smelled something…" Elena looked up suddenly. "Where's Damon?" Great, she'd almost just told everyone she was pregnant and the father wasn't even there.

"I'm back!" He said, strolling back to his place at her side.

"What are you wearing?" Elena asked with amusement, unable to take her eyes off his legs.

"What?" Damon asked, looking down.

Elena's lips curled up as she remained looking at his calves. They were nice and shapely. She hadn't really stopped to appreciate them ever until just now. "It's just…I guess I've never seen you in shorts." She said, moving her eyes away, but keeping his legs in the corner of her vision. He sat down next to her and the objects of her affection were suddenly so close! Slightly hairy and more than slightly muscled—so nice. Seeing him naked was a wonderful sight, but somehow this small tease of skin was tempting her.

She looked up to see them all looking at her expectantly. _Right, the good news_…"I'm pregnant!" She blurted out. She turned to Damon, and buried her head in his chest. It was all she'd wanted to do since she heard the news. As long as he was next to her—everything felt like it would be fine. More than fine, perfect even.

Damon extracted himself from Elena. He brought his hand to her chin and made her look at him. "What?" His voice was calm and even, but his eyes were wide.

"Stefan could smell the change in my scent…I'm pregnant." Elena leaned in closer. She whispered, not wanting the others to hear. "Damon, we didn't use any condoms, or pills, or-" Damon pulled away, and it broke Elena's heart.

Caroline, of course, heard anyway. "E-Elena," she stammered, "I'm so sorry, I-I shouldn't have noticed-noticed _something_. And Tyler-"

Bonnie took her arm. "Come on, I think we should give them some alone time." She pulled a still-rambling Caroline away and the rest of them followed.

Damon still hadn't said a word. Elena tentatively put her hand on his shoulder. "Damon-?" She prompted softly.

"I'm just-just trying to process this. It's not everyday something you never really knew was possible just happens! It never even crossed my mind—I never even realized!"

"Me either," Elena said, the other hand going to his knee. She delicately stroked the bare flesh there.

"I can't believe it! It's like a dream. I'm going to be a father! I-" he looked at Elena's hand, which was now stroking a larger patch of skin. "What are you doing?" He asked, as it was kind of distracting.

"Oh! Sorry," Elena said, but she didn't stop, "I guess I'm just…well, horny." Then Elena grimaced. _Did I just use the word horny? In front of Damon?_

He looked down at his leg, where Elena's small, soft fingers were still teasing his leg. "Me, too," he decided. He moved her onto his lap and stood up, holding her in his arms. He smiled like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. "I can't believe I'm going to be a daddy. I can't believe _you_ are the mother of my child." His arms effortlessly held her up as he attacked her mouth.

"Stop!" Elena finally pulled away breathlessly. "I need toothpaste!"

"There's toothpaste in our bathroom." He said helpfully. "Which is right next to our bedroom." He paused. "Where we can have sex." He added unnecessarily.

"What are you waiting for?" Elena asked, laughing. He made a move to start walking to their bedroom, but he sat down suddenly, causing Elena's stomach to drop strangely, as she was still in his arms. "What's wrong?" She asked. Then, panicked, "Am I that fat already?"

He ignored her last statement. "We can't have sex. You're pregnant."

"I think that proves that we very much can have sex, Damon. A lot."

He looked like he might argue, but he snapped his mouth shut. He stood up quickly once more and Elena fought back a groan. He carried her to his bedroom.

* * *

><p>Stefan was pacing. He'd gotten his latest victims to open their home to him in record time. One male and one female. They were currently cowering before him as he ranted. "I hadn't- I hadn't planned for this!" He shouted. "It should be <em>my child!<em> _She _should be mine! I should have killed Damon so long ago. I had so many chances." Stefan was furious. "Of course this is why she's with him…maybe she just feels trapped, because of the baby?" He looked at the girl, but she was just whimpering. She offered him no answers. It was fine with him, he could answer himself. "No, that's not it. I saw her face. She was just as surprised as I was! It can't be that… Why can't she just realize it already? We were meant to be together."

Abruptly, Stefan seemed to calm. He motioned for the girl to come to him. Compelled, she had no choice but to follow his command. She was trembling and tears were streaming down her face. Stefan tipped her head to the side to expose her neck. "I don't know what the fuck is going on," he admitted, talking more to himself than to the bloodbag. She remained in the position he'd put her, her neck bare.

Without warning, he shoved her away so hard she slammed into the wall. She slumped over and the man crawled to her. "Can't she see how much this is hurting me?" He yelled to no one in particular, although he did look up. His eyes were full of tears. "She loves me…I know she does. You don't feel that way—and then just stop!"

Still upset, he reached out to the girl just regaining consciousness. He helped her gently to her feet. "I'll have them both," he whispered in her ear, his hands massaging the bruise on the back of her head. "I must." His arms drew her closer, and he was pretending it was a different brunette he was holding. "After all, the baby is half Salvatore…My blood will flow through its small veins…" He started swaying with the girl, pleased with the conclusion he'd come to. "In fact," he said as they continued to dance, "This might have worked out perfectly. We never would have had a child any other way, me and Elena." He rested his head atop the girl's. "This way, once the baby is born, I can turn Elena. And once the baby is grown up, I can turn our child." Stefan smiled at the picture in his head. So perfect… "And then," Stefan whispered, pulling away just enough to look into the girls eyes, "We can be a family."

His grin was the last thing the girl saw before her vision went black. He ripped into her neck, gnawing viciously. Blood got everywhere. Hot and salty and sublime. There was nothing quite like this as a perfect end to an interesting night. He bit into her a few more times before he was satisfied there was nothing more for him to drink, and she was just a husk.

The man had been begging, pleading, screaming. Stefan stopped that soon enough.

Stefan looked back at the two messes he'd made just as he was leaving. Were they friends, lovers? Husband and wife, brother and sister, father and daughter? He would never know. Already their faces were fading from his memory. Had they ever even registered? He turned away. It really was time to go. It was positively _filthy_ here.


	23. Dark Stranger

_**A/N: So, this is the last chapter before the Epilogue/Playlist (because, trust me, music got me through this and kept me motivated through my first lengthy FF!). Tell me what you think! (:**_

"No way, Elena!" Damon stood with his arms crossed, an obstinate look on his face. "It was bad enough to risk your life _before,_ but there's no way in hell that's our plan now."

"Damon! We didn't even get to the plan part the last time. It can still work! He doesn't know what we're doing." Elena pleaded. The others watched in silence, knowing this was an argument they should not weigh in on, although Alaric looked more than tempted.

"You have to think about the baby, Elena!" He came close, and his eyes bore into hers. This time the intensity made her shiver instead of combust. He looked dangerous.

"What about you?" Elena whispered. "You're a father…" Tears came into her eyes. Her emotions were crazy enough without the added stress of a psycho vampire ex.

He softened at his words, but his voice held no resolve. "I'm sorry. But if anyone else here can distract him long enough, it's me." Damon brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "If I don't do this, we will have to live in this constant fear of-of my brother. Of the monster who took his mind." He held her close. "I have to do this."

Elena gave a small nod against his chest. This was one of the worst feelings in the world, accepting the fact you were letting your loved one face mortal danger. But Damon had trusted her enough to allow her to do the same, so now it was her turn to show him how much she believed in him, too. Especially because she could only imagine how he must feel, readying himself to kill his own brother.

"Are you ready, Bonnie?" Damon asked as he pulled away.

"What?" Elena cried. "So soon?"

He looked at her sadly. "Elena, we can't keep putting this off. You know that," he said as his hand came up once more to her hair. Elena moved her head away and he looked hurt, but she knew that if she looked at his face she'd cling and beg him not to go.

For the first time, Elena noticed Bonnie's supplies on the table. She'd already started chanting. Elena heard the door close and her heart jumped to her throat. She moved to a window to watch.

The others moved to the door. Alaric, Tyler, and even Caroline readied themselves with stakes. Jeremy stayed behind at the table, assisting Bonnie. Elena moved to join them at the door, but Caroline stopped her with a light push backwards. Elena stumbled back to the window to watch helplessly. She spoke to Elena. "Sorry, chica. I have strict orders from Damon, and some pretty intense moral beliefs of my own. You aren't going out there." The others wouldn't meet her eye, but Caroline spared her a sympathetic look before returning her attention to the now-open door. They would watch and wait until it was their turn.

Damon and Stefan were talking—arguing. Elena knew intuitively which argument Damon would have picked to distract Stefan—the same his little brother had used on him countless times years before.

It wasn't going well. With each word, Stefan seemed to grow more agitated and unreasonable. She wished she could be there with them, hear what they were saying.

Elena gasped with horror when she saw Stefan wrap his hand around Damon's throat and lift him from the ground.

Everyone was so preoccupied in that moment. With Damon, with Stefan. Bonnie halted her chanting so she would not cast the spell around both Damon and Stefan. Jeremy was preparing his "Now!" shout for the moment when Stefan released Damon. Alaric, Tyler, and Caroline had tight grips on their weapons, muscles tensed for the moment they might explode from this doorway to kill Stefan.

They were all so preoccupied that not a one noticed as Elena smoothly opened the window and slipped out. She was halfway across the yard before they even realized she'd left.

Her heart wasn't pumping, it was a shaking like a rock in a bottle, slamming against her chest. She barely noticed how her muscles strained and her lungs heaved in great heaps of air. She only had eyes for Damon as he struggled in Stefan's grip. She was overcome with dread when she saw Stefan throw Damon away from him.

Elena skidded to a stop in the leaves between Stefan and the unconscious Damon. "Please," Elena begged, body shaking with adrenaline. "Please leave him!"

Delusional Stefan was scary, but this dark stranger was so much worse. He advanced upon her with dead eyes. Elena felt the wetness on her face, but wasn't aware of her crying. "Please, Stefan," She was saying over and over, a whisper, a prayer. Was that even his name any more?

"Elena," Stefan said, almost in surprise, his step faltering. "Darling," her name was worship on his lips.

Elena shook her head. "No," she tried to say, but as she mouthed the word, it was soundless. She bowed her head and choked back a sob. All she had to do was distract him until Bonnie finished her spell. That was all she had to do, she could do it.

"Elena," Stefan knelt beside her. "If you're worried about the father of the baby, don't worry. It's just as much my blood as Damon's. Our father and our mother, and _you_, Elena. Don't worry! I have it all figured out!" Stefan inched closer to her, and Elena moved backwards, closer to Damon. "Even when Damon is gone, your baby will have a father, Elena! Just let me deal with him. He's nothing. He won't come between us." His eyes moved past her to Damon.

"No!" Elena said, stronger this time. His eyes snapped to hers. They were so red. Elena could imagine herself drowning in the blood pools of his eyes. The blood of all she loved. "Stop," she pleaded.

He made a move towards them, fangs bared, when Alaric came out of nowhere. He tried to move in between them. "No, Alaric, not yet!" Elena warned.

Alaric raised his stake and rushed Stefan. His eyes never leaving Elena's, Stefan easily broke Alaric's stake-bearing wrist. Grabbing him by the hair, Stefan wrenched Alaric's head so that his neck was exposed. It didn't take long after Stefan's strike for Alaric to slump lifelessly. Stefan tossed him away. Alaric crumpled to the ground. And all the while, those eyes never left hers.

"Elena." His voice was so different, it made Elena even more frightened. He sounded so angry. Elena breathed heavily as he continued, "I hope it's a girl, Elena." She shook so badly. "A little girl, a niece, who looks just like you." How can one voice be so angry, so empty, and still so full of love and adoration?

Damon stirred. He pulled Elena closer to him.

Stefan flinched. He stood. "Maybe then I could have somebody, too," he bit out.

Everyone else was out of the house, now. Damon and Elena struggled to stand. He seemed dizzy, and Elena worriedly noticed blood running down his face.

Stefan ignored them as he approached Elena. He placed his hand gently on Elena's belly. "Hey, little baby," he said softly, and it broke Elena's heart. "Are you in there? You will know me," Stefan promised as he backed away.

He surveyed Elena's array of friends. His head tilted as he took in Bonnie's chanting. Snarling, he started forward. Jeremy stepped between them. When Stefan got closer, Jeremy splashed a bottle of vervain water on Stefan's face. He barked in pain as his face sizzled. "You'll pay," he snarled in a raspy voice. He advanced once more.

Bonnie stopped chanting and her hand flew out. She said one word. "Barrier." Stefan could get no further. It was not a spell on him, but one to keep them separated. Bonnie was inhaling huge gulps of air.

"Elena, Damon! Get Alaric to the hospital!" Jeremy ordered. They were the closest to the car in the driveway. Elena and Damon half-dragged, half-carried their friend.

"Don't worry, I'll hold him off." Bonnie promised. Elena noticed the worried glance Jeremy gave her and the blood now dripping from her nose.

"We'll hold him off, too," Caroline growled, her game face on.

Tyler grinned. He fell to all fours and shifted, almost effortlessly. Elena shivered seeing his grin sharpen into razor-sharp fangs. The years had given him practice.

Caroline dared to take a step closer, Tyler at her side, snarling.

Stefan backed up a little, cautiously eyeing their advancing forms.

"We may not be able to put a spell on you," Caroline said quietly, "but a bite from a werewolf will still kill you." It was her turn to grin, her fangs protruding noticeably.

Stefan took off running, and Caroline and Tyler were hot on his heels. They'd likely chase him off far enough until they figured he wasn't a threat for the time being.

Damon and Elena sped off without incident as they disappeared into the woods. As Elena looked back, she saw Bonnie and Jeremy retreating into the safety of the house. Elena breathed a sigh of relief and returned her attention back to the patient at hand.

She took Alaric's unbroken wrist and searched for a pulse. "His pulse is weak, but it's still there," she told Damon worriedly.

She screamed as the car swerved violently. "Sorry, sorry," Damon gasped. "Vision's still a little blurry. Maybe I shouldn't be driving." But Elena stayed in the back seat with Alaric.

Even with Damon's erratic driving, they made it to the hospital in one piece, and in record time to boot.

The hours she spent in the waiting room after that were some of the worst in her life.

Finally, the doctor came to them. "Hello, I'm Dr. Fell. Your friend was seriously hurt and he lost a lot of blood. He'll need emergency transfusions. If his beginning responses are any indication, he should take to them well. He should be fine. The only thing left that we have to do now is put a cast on his wrist. But it would interfere with the IV." She was pretty, Elena dimly noticed of the doctor.

"Uhm, couldn't you have put it on the other arm?" Elena asked, remembering her own hospital experiences.

"Yes, but it was an emergency situation, the nurse who inserted the needle wasn't thinking clearly. I didn't want to risk unhooking the IV once I'd noticed, after it had already begun. Don't worry, I will make sure he gets the best care possible."

Elena nodded, still getting over the relieved shock of knowing he would be fine.

"In the meantime," Dr. Fell spoke again, "I'd suggest that you two get checked out." Damon started to deny that he needed medical attention but she cut him off. "I'm not stupid. You were clearly involved in something dangerous. You can lie to me all you want." _That kitchen accident story must not have been very convincing, _Elena thought. "But you shouldn't gamble with your lives." _Too late for that. _She was looking directly at Elena. "And this one could have a concussion." She nodded to Damon, making it clear that she thought it was Elena's responsibility to take care of her man.

* * *

><p>Back at the Salvatore mansion, Elena and Damon had just entered their bedroom. It turned out he did have a concussion, but she was fine. In fact, she'd also gotten her baby checked out, too. So far, everything was going well. She pushed him onto the bed and he fell easily with a groan. He closed his eyes. "I don't think you're supposed to abuse the concussed human so much," he complained.<p>

Elena climbed on top of him. "Oh, am I being too rough?" She dropped her hips to grind on him.

His eyebrows lifted along with the corners of his mouth. "Mmm, on second thought," his hands moved up her body to her shoulders.

She leaned down to kiss him. "After you've rested," she assured, climbing off.

He groaned with disappointment, but he was still too tired to open his eyes. She giggled and kissed him once more. "I'll be back, every hour, on the hour." She started to leave, but before she turned she saw him slowly lift his heavy eyelids open. The emotion in his eyes scared her. "What is it?" She whispered.

"I'm afraid to sleep." Damon's voice cracked and his voice filled with tears.

"Are you afraid you won't wake up?" Elena asked, sitting beside him. Maybe he was more shaken by the concussion than he'd lead on.

"I'm afraid to dream." His eyes closed and Elena saw a tear leak from them.

She stretched out beside him and buried her head against his chest, unable to look at him. Her arms wrapped around his midsection. "I'll stay with you."

"I know it's stupid, but I thought-I hoped that, once we talked—" he sighed. "I thought he just wanted me to save him."

"It's not stupid." Elena said quietly, listening to his heartbeat. It felt like it beat in time with hers. She closed her eyes and felt him fall asleep, but she didn't let herself do the same.

When the time came, she was slow getting off the bed. She hadn't wanted to disturb him, knowing he was usually a light sleeper. She'd been counting on his head injury exhausting him just enough for her to do what she was about to without getting found out.

It was late when Elena and Damon came home from the hospital, but they'd all stayed up to hear the news about Ric. When they'd heard he would be fine, they'd all gone to bed.

Except for Bonnie, who was still up, sitting by the fire. That was good. Elena didn't want to have to find her and drag her from bed. What's more, Jeremy wasn't with her to hinder Elena's sneaking.

While Elena was relieved, she also felt terrible for her friend. Their plan rested heavily on Bonnie's spell. Actually, their whole plan was pretty much her spell. It was a lot of pressure to put on one person. Not to mention all the times Bonnie had gone through the motions, started the spell, only to stop because her friends were in danger. And now Elena saw that her friend was having trouble sleeping.

Guilt almost made Elena stop in her tracks. How could she do this to someone she loved? Bonnie was her first friend, the first to see her in her _state_. She didn't judge and she helped Elena live again. Then Elena steeled herself. That was exactly why she had to do this. If she didn't end this soon, her friends would only suffer more.

She settled next to Bonnie on the couch, facing the fire. There was apprehension on Bonnie's face and she eyed Elena with something akin to fear. Like she knew what Elena was about to ask of her.

Elena put an arm around Bonnie. She sighed. "I won't insult you by pretending you don't know why I'm here." Her voice was soft. She played with the ends of Bonnie's hair, relishing just the feeling of being so close to another person. She couldn't go back to how it was before.

"It's too dangerous—" Bonnie started.

"Today should have shown you, Bonnie. I'm the only one who can do this."

Bonnie's eyes grew teary. "The others would never let you. _I_ shouldn't let you."

"That's why we can't tell them." Elena said harshly. "We need to wait for the opportunity."

"H-how?" Bonnie had enough trouble choking the whole word out, let alone a sentence.

"We all need to be in the living room, maybe lunch or just before dinner. The stakes are by the fireplace so they're handy enough. Then I go outside before anyone can stop me—"

"Elena—" Bonnie protested, but Elena continued.

"—should be easy, no one will be expecting it. You start the spell." Elena stopped to look Bonnie in the eyes. "This is very important, Bonnie; you have to do the spell no matter what. Even if I'm in range. It's clear now that we won't get him alone."

"I can't, Elena! I can't do that!" Bonnie looked young in that moment, despite her laugh lines. She looked unsure and scared.

Elena pulled her closer until their foreheads touched. "I need you to be ready at a moment's notice. Can I trust you?" Her question was a whisper.

"I know you're strong, Elena." Bonnie finally said. "I believe in you." Her hands grasped Elena's. Elena gave a sigh of relief at her friend's words. She turned to go back to Damon, but Bonnie stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Wait, take this."

Elena looked down. Bonnie had taken off her necklace and pressed it into Elena's hand. "Bonnie, I can't take this."

"Please, it would make me feel better." Bonnie's eyes were shining.

"You know the magic is gone," Elena said gently.

Bonnie smiled weakly. "But maybe there's still some luck." Bonnie cleared her throat and stood. She went to the stairs, probably headed to her room.

Elena put the necklace on and did the same. She wanted to get back to Damon.

* * *

><p>The day took all too long to arrive. That is, until it did. Then it seemed like it had happened much too soon. A million reasons crossed Elena's mind as she tried to justify postponing it a little longer. <em>Damon has his concussion. Alaric's still weak, too. Caroline hasn't fed yet today, so her strength isn't optimal.<em>

But their death plan had already been delayed indefinitely, with no talk of another try. They had to act now. They had to end this. Elena knew she had to be the one to finish it.

Bonnie had been sneaking glances at Elena for a few minutes now, making eye contact, but never keeping it as she hurriedly looked away. She knew, just as Elena did, that the conditions for their plan would not get better than this.

It was a little after noon. Caroline had helped Alaric make pancakes for lunch. It didn't matter that she didn't need to eat, she still liked the way they tasted. So did everyone else. When Alaric, her partner in the kitchen, remarked that he'd never expected Caroline to be a good cook, Tyler grinned and grabbed Caroline around the waist. "Why do you think I keep her around?" He growled into her thick blonde hair as she giggled.

"I've gotta keep my man placated." Caroline said, smiling lovingly at Tyler before wrapping an arm around his neck.

"What's your excuse, Alaric?" Jeremy asked, smiling.

"I'm an old bachelor. It was either pancakes or starve." That got a couple laughs. Alaric played a disgruntled old man well. It made Elena frown to think of how the last ten years must have been for him. Maybe he wasn't playing at all.

All in all, it was a lazy Saturday, as evidenced by the breakfast for lunch mealtime. After eating their fill, everyone stayed socializing in the living room by the unlit fire. Damon was still shoveling food into his mouth as everyone talked. He'd gotten up later than everyone else. Bonnie and Elena were the only ones who weren't relaxed.

She was ready, Elena realized, seeing how Bonnie's face was set with grim determination. It was up to Elena to get it together now. No one noticed as she moved towards the door. They were still talking about everyone's various cooking skills when Elena simply walked out through the front door. She looked back only once and saw Bonnie had already started the chant. It would have been easier if her ancestors had a one word spell, like the barrier one. Even then maybe that wasn't Bonnie's ancestors so much as Bonnie herself. She had some serious power, and Elena didn't doubt that her friend could kick ass without dead witch ghosts.

Elena pulled her keys out of her pocket as she stepped into the day. The lawn was covered with autumn-colored leaves. The air was chilly and unassuming. Elena never would have thought anything ominous and life-threatening could happen here, with the sea of bright golds, oranges, and reds crunching beneath her feet. She did her best to make it look like she was hurrying to the red Ferrari. The car matched the seasonal fauna. She didn't have to work to make noise as the leaves rustled noisily enough when she passed. Suddenly, she fell with a cry.

The sound echoed eerily through the trees.

Her hands were clutching her slightly rounded stomach, and she moaned as she writhed on the ground. She screamed out for help. "Damon! Caroline! BonnieJeremyAlaricTyler! God someone please help me!" Tears of fear started to leak from her eyes. "Anyone?" She cried. "Stefan?" She whispered.

He was there in an instant, his face ashen.

Her sobbing stopped for just a moment as her breath caught. But she screamed again a second later as her body contorted with pain.

Stefan started to panic. He knelt beside her with his hands held out, wanting to help her. Elena couldn't remember seeing a face with so much pain and fear as he came closer to her.

She tried to reach out to him. "Stefan," Elena gasped.

Suddenly, his face became monstrous and savage. "What is it, Elena?" He had a hard time talking with the growl in his throat. "I'll rip it out of you if I have to." His red eyes glittered as he gave her his dark promise.

Elena's scream was genuine this time as fear filled her for her unborn, defenseless baby. Her arms wrapped around her slightly bulging belly to protect her child.

Time slowed as he raised his hand. Stefan's eyes were intent on her stomach and his outstretched hand was reaching ever nearer. Her mind raced as his hand moved millimeters closer.

Then, like lightening, she saw her friends converge on them. Caroline and Tyler were the fastest, so they arrived first. Elena realized adrenaline had not slowed down the moment, the spell had. Stefan was almost touching her stomach when his attention shifted. Caroline had one of his shoulders in hand to hold him in place.

Tyler rushed forward, his stake raised.

Stefan tried to escape Caroline's grip. Elena knew he wouldn't be able to move much; it was like being trapped in amber. Immobile, Elena watched from the ground. He finally moved just an inch to the side when Tyler's stake slammed into his chest.

Elena lurched as time seemed to rush forward until she was back at her own speed.

Stefan was staring at his chest in surprise. So was everyone else. But the inch he'd managed to move had saved him. Without bothering to pry it from his chest, he threw Caroline far into the woods. Elena flinched as she heard the crack of a tree trunk.

Enraged, Tyler surged forward. Stefan brought his hands to each of Tyler's shoulders. Elena saw his arm muscles bulge as he did his best to bring his hands together, Tyler still in between them. She thought she would be sick when she heard the noise. Like breaking a bunch of glowsticks at once, magnified by a thousand. Tyler howled in pain, but when he hit the ground, he was silent.

Stefan turned to her and knelt once again. She knew he wouldn't stop until the child was a bloody carcass in his hands. She saw Damon moving to her from over Stefan's shoulder. He would be too late. The window for the spell had closed and she was so close to losing everything. She realized what she had to do.

Desperately, she pulled the stake from his chest, ignoring the sucking noise it made. He looked confused for a moment. But then Elena struck him, and his eyes widened as if he finally understood. Tears were streaming down her face as Elena tried to force the stake deeper. She hadn't had much momentum, and she couldn't force the stake through all the layers of skin, muscle, and bone.

He knelt there, hurt and betrayal on his face. Elena tried to push forward again, but it was no use. She wasn't strong enough. Stefan slowly pulled her arm from the stake, once again leaving it lodged in place.

The hope in her eyes as the stake tore through the first layers of skin and muscle killed Stefan more than any stake ever could have. And the way her face fell when she realized she'd failed—Stefan cried silent tears for what his life had become. "You really don't love me." He realized as he looked at her. His hand traced her cheek.

Elena was frozen with fear. She dimly noticed Caroline sobbing as she held a deformed Tyler in her arms. Damon had stopped short when he saw the scene. He was afraid of what Stefan might do to Elena if he got too close. Stefan slowly slid the stake from his chest. The air was tense as everyone awaited his next act. The hand holding the stake went limp.

Elena felt his empty hand gently grip hers.

His next move was so fast she hardly saw it. But she felt the blood splatter on her face.

He fell to the ground, his hand still holding hers.

In the other, his heart.


	24. Epilogue & Playlist

**A/N: Okay, the epilogue and playlist. The story shifts perspectives to try and give an idea of everyone's life now and the thought paragraphs of Elena's at the end are just kind of a parallel to the first chapter. The songs, if anyone even cares what I listened to for inspiration, are listed in order, mostly. So it's not the greatest and I took forever, but I'm pretty happy to have finished and I'd love to hear what anyone thinks.**

There was a knock at the door and Elena ran to get it. She had to shove past Damon to get there before him. He really needed to stop insisting on doing any physical tasks for her just because she was pregnant. She wasn't even showing yet.

She heard his disapproving grunt and her smile was still strong when she opened the door. Her eyes fell on a familiar stranger. "Matt!" She flung herself into his arms. He laughed and held her tight. She pulled away in confusion. "What are you wearing?"

His fingers lingered on her stomach as he left the hug and the look on his face formed into confusion. Elena looked past Matt's shoulder to see a disgruntled blonde glaring at the fingers still resting lightly on Elena. "Matt?" Elena questioned.

He snapped out of whatever thought he had. "Oh, it's a Luke Mignonne. He's an unknown right now, but Rebekah and I predict he will become quite popular very soon." He turned to Rebekah and they shared a secret, smiling look just before they kissed. He turned back to Elena and saw her speechless look. He gave a nervous laugh and it was the first time he'd seemed anything at all like the boy she fell in love with. "You didn't mean the suit, you meant the fact that I was wearing a suit at all." He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, we just came from Paris, where things like that were kind of expected. Rebekah's involved with the high society types."

"No, it's okay," Elena insisted. "Does he do dresses, too? Maybe I could get one." Elena smiled.

"Please." Rebekah scoffed. "Like you could afford it."  
>"Rebekah!" Matt snapped. Elena was shocked at how strong and forceful his voice sounded. Rebekah pouted. "I'm sorry," he said as he turned back to Elena. "It was a bad trip back for her. Who knew vampires could get seasick?"<p>

Rebekah's eyes widened and Elena could swear she saw her blush. Matt put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

Elena's eyes went from Rebekah to Matt. "Oh," as all Elena could say. She looked to Damon and saw him staring, just as dumbfounded as she was. "Um, we were just about to head out." Elena said.

"My last follow up for my concussion," Damon informed them.

Matt's eyebrows rose at the mention of a concussion, but Elena grabbed Damon and tugged him towards the door before they stopped to chat. They were already late! "Feel free to make yourselves at home!" Elena chirped. "I can't wait to get back and talk to you, Matt."

"Of course," Matt said quietly as he watched them go and his blue eyes tried to make sense out of the odd situation.

Rebekah tugging on his arm startled him out of his line of thought. "Come on," she giggled, "Let's go have sex on Damon and Elena's bed when they're gone."

Matt couldn't help but and laugh at the mischievous expression on her face. He pulled her in for a kiss. "How about we use one of the extensive spare bedrooms instead?"

She pretended to pout. "Kitchen?" She offered up hopefully, her gorgeously sweet accent tinkling up hopefully.

Matt thought for a moment. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear those shining blue eyes had him under a spell. Or compulsion. But they didn't. Everything they did to him, to his insides, that was just Rebekah. "Okay," he whispered with a grin. After all, part of being in a relationship is knowing when to compromise.

* * *

><p>"He's really okay?" Elena asked for the third time.<p>

Meredith gave an exasperated laugh. "Really, Elena, he's fine. Have you gone for your first baby visit yet?" The good doctor nodded towards Elena's tummy. She shook her head ruefully. Meredith laughed. "Make an appointment before you leave." She commanded. "As for right now," She smiled, "I have pressing matters to attend to, patients that need my care."

"And in no way is that code for 'I'm about to go jump my invalid boyfriend's bones.'" Damon said ironically.

Meredith smiled coyly. "That would be incredibly unprofessional, Damon. By the way, thanks for the introduction."

"Don't thank me, thank my faulty break line." Damon smiled dryly.

Meredith's eyes narrowed. "Right. You know, someday, I'm going to get Alaric to tell me the real story."

"Oh, and what a wonderful day 'twill be, my dear Meredith." Damon smiled.

She huffed and left the room, no doubt to bug Alaric some more about their mysterious injuries.

Her boyfriend sat in the exam room, waiting for their 'appointment.' In reality it was more of a booty call. He'd been healed for a while now. But let it not be said that Meredith wasn't thorough. She closed the door behind her. "Miss me?" She asked, smirking.

Alaric began removing his clothes. "Doctor, I couldn't find the hospital gown."

"It's ok," She moved close to his lips with a smirk. "You won't need it."

* * *

><p>"Are you going to tell me what happened now?" Matt asked quietly. His eyes drifted down. "Starting with this." His right hand lightly traced her stomach.<p>

"You can tell?" Elena gasped. "I'm hardly showing!"

Matt gave a surprised laugh. "I knew the second I saw you something was different. And when we hugged…" Matt shrugged, and chuckled again when Elena punched him in the shoulder.

Rebekah looked stricken. Her eyes seemed glued to Elena's stomach until she forced herself to look away.

Elena sat down cautiously, her eyes weary. She still wasn't very comfortable with having an original vampire in her home. Rebekah could very easily kill all of her family. While she no longer had the vampiric, animalistic desire to snarl at threats to her new family, she still felt it. She frowned unhappily and didn't take her eyes off the suspicious blonde. Rebekah glared back.

Elena told her story and tried to remain detached, but she couldn't help the raw emotion that poured from her when she got to Stefan. She started to cry.

Matt got up immediately and sat next to her. He put his arm around her and made 'therethere' noises. It was just what was needed. Elena smiled and leaned against him. She sniffed and looked for Rebekah, but the ancient vampire had gone. "I can't believe you left me." Elena didn't mean to sound quite so accusing, and she bit her tongue.

"I can't believe it, either." Matt said, sounding like he even surprised himself. "But I don't think I'd do it any differently." He squeezed Elena closer. "Rebekah is the best thing that's ever happened to me." Matt had to smile at the irony of it all. All those years imagining it was Elena in his arms, and now that she was finally there he couldn't stop thinking of a woman who was definitely _not_ Elena.

Elena pulled away. "Are you sure about her, Matt?" She sounded so worried.

Matt smiled sweetly. "She's not what everyone else sees. She's amazing. I still can't believe I'm lucky enough to—" He shook his head. "I'm a lucky man."

"She's the lucky one, Matt." Elena was still unconvinced.

Matt framed her face with his hands. "Please try to be happy for me."

"I am." Elena said softly.

Matt snorted. "Yeah, it's written all over that frown of yours." Elena didn't say anything. Matt sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I remember there was a time where people said Damon wasn't the man you thought he was, Elena."

"No fair bringing him into this." Elena said, tearing up.

"I just want you to trust me."

Elena tried to smile through her tears. "I do trust you. With my life."

"So it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to extend that to _my _life." Matt reasoned.

"You're right. If you love her, she's worth loving. Even if she does loathe my non-fancy-French-designer-frock-wearing self."

They both laughed. "I think she's just—she's feeling a lot. It's not easy for her." Matt confided. "She just lost two of her brothers. Her whole life is different. And I'm not so sure she liked it that much in the first place."

Elena stayed quiet for a moment with her head on his shoulder. She was thinking about his words. After a while, she broke the silence. "Bonnie and Jeremy moved in together."

Matt was delighted at this gossip. "No way?! Took long enough!"

Elena laughed. "I know, right? It's an old house on the edge of town. I think it was hard for her." Her smile faded. "I think she was holding back because of the magic abuse and worrying about being good enough."

"Well, good thing Bonnie has friends like us to tell her she's still awesome."

Elena nodded her agreement.

They talked about non-important gossip for a while. It was nice to chat.

Finally, Matt looked at Elena slyly. "I'm going back to school for my PhD."

Elena turned to face him and her mouth dropped. Her arms flung around his neck in hug Matt could swear was vamp-enhanced it was so tight. "Matt, that's amazing!"

He laughed. "I can do it this time. I know it."

The mood was light and fun as they talked like the old friends they were. Eventually, he told her he'd better get back to his girlfriend before she gave him the silent treatment for a week.

Elena sat in front of the fire they'd built while talking. She could fall asleep she was so content. She realized she better get back to Damon before she fell asleep. She started to put it out, when Rebekah appeared before her from what seemed to be out of nowhere.

Elena gasped and staggered back. Her heart was pounding. "Rebekah, you scared me."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Hardly difficult."

"Where's Matt?" Elena tried to shift away.

"The shower. We need to talk. Sit."

Elena plopped down on the couch with a grimace. "What's this about, Rebekah?" Elena wrung her hands nervously.

"I've wanted, for a very long time, what was previously just something that couldn't ever happen, and now with Matt, it's even worse, what I want, what I need, and I need your help," Rebekah gave a deep breath. "Please." She added as an afterthought.

Elena's eyes were wide. "Rebekah what are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to tell you. But I-it's just-"

"Just tell me." Elena demanded, forgetting to be scared of the powerful vampire.

"It's not exactly easy to bare my soul to a back stabber!" Rebekah snapped. Her control slipped and her fangs appeared for just a second.

Elena gulped, partly to swallow her fear, but mostly to try and choke down the guilt. She didn't bother to argue against Rebekah's anger. She'd done what she had to. "What do you need, Rebekah?"

Rebekah swallowed and looked Elena dead in the eye. Her blue eyes were watery with new tears. Her hand found Elena's and held it between her own. "I want to be human again." Her voice was soft and pleading. "Please, Elena. Please."

Elena didn't pull away. She was too shocked. "Why would you-?"

"I want to have a normal life. I want Matt to have a normal life. It isn't fair to make him spend his whole life with me as a vampire." Rebekah moved to her knees to where Elena sat on the couch, her hands still trapping Elena's imploringly. "Please." She was shaking.

"I love Matt." Elena said and Rebekah winced. "There's nothing I want more for him than his happiness. But this is something you need to do for yourself. No one else. You have to follow your heart."

"I am following my heart." Rebekah said through the tears that were now falling.

"Look at you, you're terrified! How can I believe you?" Elena was distraught. How had things like this come to fall on her shoulders?

"Elena, this is something that I've wanted for a very long time. I want children, just _one_ lifetime, a beating heart…I feel like I've waited forever for the right time. And now, with Matt, this is right. This is right."

Elena was beginning to see why Matt loved her. Like this, she was an open book, tragic and true. Elena put her hands on Rebekah's face. She moved in slowly, giving the vampire plenty of time to pull away.

"Does it hurt?" Elena heard her whisper.

"Yes." She said honestly.

She continued forward until her lips pressed gently against Rebekah's. The original hadn't hesitated or moved back an inch. Elena pulled back and met Rebekah's wide blue eyes. She kept her hands on her face. She stayed close to the other girl and waited for it to happen.

Rebekah gasped softly. Her hands moved to clutch Elena's shoulders weakly before she collapsed. Elena caught her and laid her gently on the floor.

Elena stroked her hair. She looked like Sleeping Beauty. Innocent and weak. Elena felt an odd, overwhelming desire to protect the blonde. "Is this what Matt feels for you?" Elena whispered. She knew it was her job to watch over Rebekah now.

Matt came down the stairs in only his boxers. His hair was still wet. He saw Elena on the couch. "Have you seen Rebekah?"

"Matt-" Elena stood and tried to stop him.

Matt moved around the couch. He saw Rebekah on the floor. "Oh my god," he cried as he dropped to his knees beside her. He felt for a pulse and pulled back choking. He turned accusing eyes towards Elena. "What did you do to her?"

Elena was startled by Matt's blue eyes. They were usually calm pools, but today they were threatening. "Matt, she'll be okay."

"How can I trust you? You hurt her once before." Matt put his arms underneath Rebekah to pick her up. He set her on the couch and kneeled beside her. His face was turned away from Elena but sshe could hear his tears. "Please tell me you didn't, Elena."

"She asked me to, Matt." Elena put a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.

"What about me, Elena? Did you think of that? Does anyone _ever_ think of that? What if she doesn't wake up, and it's all because she wanted to be human for me?" His shoulders were shaking. She saw his hand reach out to push a few blond strands away from Rebekah's face.

Elena was unsure what to say for a moment. "Could you be more selfish or conceited, Matt?" She was surprised at how harsh she could make her voice sound.

Matt seemed stricken when he looked up at her. "W-what?"

"That's right. This is _Rebekah's _life we're talking about now. Not yours. The decision she made, she made for herself, not you. And anything you'd have said to her wouldn't have been fair. This is something she needs to do for herself. And if you really love her, you will be happy that she's happy, do you hear me?" Elena glared at him and put her hands on her hips.

Matt nodded and swallowed his tears. He looked at Rebekah again.

"And for another thing," Elena said, still a little angry. "How dare you think I would voluntarily do something that would hurt her? I've done this to my _brother_. It's time you started trusting me, now. I'm not some feral, emotionally challenged vampire anymore."

Matt laid his forehead on the couch next to Rebekah's stomach. He took her hand. "I'm sorry," he said in a defeated voice. "How would you feel if you found someone you love like this?"

Elena's face softened. "It's scary." She sank to her knees next to him and moved a pillow underneath Rebekah's head. "But we'll take good care of her."

* * *

><p>Matt tried to pull Rebekah through the door. He was surprised he even made any progress, given that even as a human she seemed to have a vampire's strength. She latched onto the stairwell. "Come on, Rebekah!"<p>

Rebekah shook her head. "No way! I could get hit by a bus, or contract some horrible disease! My life could be over!"

Matt tried to cajole her. "You got dressed up and everything, honey."

"Well, clothes are safe. I hardly think I'm going to be strangled by a cardigan!"

Matt went back to tugging on her arm. "Just come on! You canceled on me four times already. You've had enough time. Stop being such a hermit!"

"I'll be the prettiest hermit there is!" She continued to hug the bannister.

Matt dropped his forehead to her shoulder in what seemed like defeat. His arms slid around her stomach. "Remember all the fun we had in Prague?"

"I was a vampire in Prague." The blonde said stubbornly.

"You were Rebekah. And I know you're not boring." He kissed the back of her bare neck. He felt her soften in his arms.

"I'm scared, Matt." She said quietly.

"I know, Rebekah. But this isn't any way to live your life. Your _only_ life. It's a part of being human to be vulnerable and scared." Matt was silent for a moment. "Is this still what you want? We could talk to Caroline, maybe she could—"

Rebekah turned around quickly. "No. Of course I still want this. It's-it's just hard to take the first step."

Matt smiled gently and held out his hand. "I'll be with you the whole time."

Rebekah grasped it in a tight grip.

They were still holding hands hours later when they finished dinner.

They were walking home. Rebekah's yellow sundress could just barely be made out in the dark.

"That was delicious, Matt." Rebekah smiled and patted her stomach. It was so much more satisfying to be a well-fed human than a well-fed vampire.

"I'm glad you like it," Matt said as he slid her a look from the corner of his eye, "because it's the only nice restaurant in Mystic Falls."

Rebekah was smiling until a sudden thought occurred to her. Her face darkened. "Does that mean you took Elena there?"

Matt's mouth was still open and struggling for the right response when something knocked into Rebekah from the side

Rebekah screamed and desperately tried to kick him off, but found herself powerless. The man who'd attacked her yanked her purse from her shoulder and Rebekah clawed uselessly at his face. She froze when she felt a knife at her neck.

"Hey!" Matt lifted the man with one hand and punched him with the other. The man passed out cold. Matt dropped him in disgust. He handed Rebekah her purse and helped her up. She hadn't said anything and Matt was terrified she'd never go out again.

She looked at the man on the ground for a moment. "He was stronger than me." Her lips trembled. She looked up at Matt. "And you were even stronger than him."

"Rebekah, I'm so sorry." He reached out a hand to her, but she flew into his arms.

Her entire body was pressed against his, and Matt had to rock back to recover his balance. "I've never seen anything so sexy in my life." She pulled back only to give him frantic kisses on the mouth.

"What?" Matt said dumbfounded as he pulled back to look at her.

Rebekah rubbed against him suggestively. "I've never had a boyfriend stronger than me before." She rubbed against him some more. "And it is so fucking hot." She pressed her lips to his.

Matt felt himself respond to her words. Her intense desire for _him_, of all people, turned him on to no end. He found himself kissing her back with equal fury.

"Mmm." She moaned when he put his hands in her hair. She stopped for just a second. "The only thing is…"

"What is it?" Matt's worry returned.

"Can we go out tomorrow for a new dress? Mine got ruined when I fell."

Matt relaxed and laughed. He grabbed her face for a hard kiss. "Sure thing."

* * *

><p>"So, like, now they're a couple?" Caroline asked, barely concealing her revulsion at her ex-boyfriend's taste in women.<p>

"Yes, a very human couple." Elena said happily.

"I think it's sweet." Bonnie offered. She twisted something on her finger.

Elena shook her head at Bonnie. "Don't think this distracts from that." Elena nodded at the ridiculously sized rock on Bonnie's left hand.

"It's nothing, really." Bonnie insisted and blushed. "Since he had already saved money for a house _and_ we got it for a steal…well, he had a lot of money left over." She looked at the ring lovingly.

Caroline snorted. "You rob a bank and karma's _still_ your bitch."

Bonnie shook her head. "I'd say it caught up to me when I had to, oh, say work as a stripper."

"You didn't _have_ to." Caroline insisted.

"I ran out of money, and it's not like I was going to rob another bank." Bonnie said, exasperated.

"Only because you didn't have your powers." Caroline taunted.

"It's wrong to use magic for personal gain. I learned my lesson." Bonnie warned.

Caroline rolled her eyes and Bonnie narrowed hers. Caroline reached for her glass and recoiled when, from out of nowhere, an electrical current ran through her hand. "Ouch!" She screeched. Bonnie smirked when Caroline's hair stood on end.

"But it's acceptable to use electrokinesis when you're losing an argument? Oh, logic. Woman's best friend." Tyler wheeled towards their outdoor table at the Mystic Café.

"Tyler," Caroline whined. "I told you to give me like, 30 minutes of girl time."

Tyler pouted. "I got bored. And it's already been an hour."

Bonnie shook her head. "Caroline," she said disapprovingly. "You should really take better care of your cripple boyfriend."

Caroline grinned at Tyler where he sat in his wheelchair, impatiently waiting to go. She turned to her friends with a mischievous grin. "I'm not really sure if I'm excited for the full moon to heal him or if I'm disappointed. It's fun when he has to just sit there and not use any part of his upper body. Payback's a bitch."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Tyler complained loudly.

Caroline laughed and stood. "See ya guys, time to play sexy nurse."

"Too much information, Care," Bonnie laughed.

She waved goodbye. Elena and Bonnie watched as Tyler noisily exclaimed about her terrible steering and she purposefully crashed his foot into a pole.

Bonnie shook her head, still laughing. She stood up, too. "I better get going. Jeremy and I are unpacking today."

Elena nodded. She'd helped—or tried to help, as the case may be—Bonnie and Jeremy move all their boxes into their new house. Damon would hardly let do anything. She hugged her friend goodbye and her belly bumped into Bonnie's.

Bonnie patted Elena's stomach. "And bye to you too, little one."

Elena smiled down at her stomach. She placed her hands on the bump and moved them around. It felt so strange and familiar at the same time. She was already showing so much more than when Matt had come back.

She was still smiling when another pair of larger hands covered her own and she was embraced from behind. He kissed her cheek and rested his head in the crook of her neck. Elena breathed in Damon's scent. The pregnancy was wreaking havoc on her senses, and this was her favorite. Whenever she smelled Damon she was filled with a sudden euphoria.

"Everyone left already?" He asked.

Elena nodded. "We should get going."

Neither of them wanted to move.

_The more I think about life, the more I think about redemption. And my friends. We've all been less than angels. But maybe that's the point of life. To find redemption, to have second chances._ _It's moments like these, when Damon's holding me and everything is right, that I just become filled with gratitude that this is my life. It's not miserable or painful. It's just life. Hard sometimes, but filled with so much beauty and love. I think about Stefan and I'm sad that he never got the chance to experience this._

"We'll make sure Stefan's remembered as the man he was." Damon held her closer.

"How do you always know what I'm thinking?" Elena asked.

"Because I think it, too." Damon said.

Elena gave a startled laugh. "Do you know what I'm thinking now?" She didn't need to be facing him to know he was giving her a puzzled look.

_I guess I've done the whole 'Twilight thing' again. Odd assortment of caring friends and family? The man of my dreams? A baby? I'm more like Bella than I thought._

* * *

><p><strong>Playlist:<strong>

Death for My Birthday- Say Anything

The Trick is to Keep Breathing—Garbage

Revolving Doors- Gorillaz

Sex on the Radio-Good Charlotte

Louder- Florence and the Machine

The Fixer- Coldplay

Lost in My Mind- The Head and the Heart

Will Do- TV on the Radio

My Goddess—The Exies

Love is What You Are- Old 97's

The Fight-Sia

Heavy in Your Arms- Florence and the Machine

Runaway Train—Soul Asylum

Dammit—Blink 182

Scars- Papa Roach

Parachute- Ingrid Micaelsonn

Famous Last Words- My Chemical Romance

And obviously, Iris-The Goo Goo Dolls


End file.
